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Rev.  t,.  M    HAGOOU,  M.  u. 


THE  COLORfiB'^Mfe., 


IN  THB  ^/>^ 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


BY 


THE  REV.  L.  M.  HAGOOD.  M.  D.. 

OF  THE  LEXINGTON  CONFERENCE. 


CINCINNATI : 
ORANSXON   &  STOWED. 
NEW  YORK : 
HUNT  &  EA.TON. 

1890. 


Copyright  by 

L.  M.  H  AOOOD, 

1890. 


PREFACE. 


THE  history  of  the  relations  existing  between 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  col- 
ored man— or  rather,  the  status  of  the  colored  man 
within  the  Church — so  far  as  known,  has  never  been 
written.  There  are  many  cogent  reasons  why  such 
a  history  should  be  written.  From  the  time  of  the 
landing  of  a  cargo  of  twenty  African  slaves  at 
Jamestown,  Virginia,  in  1620,  until  this  hour,  the 
colored  man  has  been  the  subject  of  much  dis- 
cussion. Touching  his  status  as  a  man,  there  have 
always  been  two  sides:  one  in  favor  of  enslaving 
him,  and  the  other  objecting  to  enslaving  him. 
Both  sides  of  this  vexed  question  have  always  been 
represented  within  the  Church.  The  fact  that  there 
has  always  been  a  majority  in  the  Church  opposed 
to  enslaving  him ;  that  therefore  the  Church  early  en- 
listed in  the  cause  of  his  emancipation, — has  kept 
up  a  continuous  though  bloodless  warfare  within  the 
Church. 

Thus  the  colored  man  early  learned  to  love 
Methodism,  and  soon  large  numbers  were  brought 
into  its  communion.  The  emancipation  and  en- 
franchisement of  the   race   did  not  put  a   quietus 

3 


2201247 


4  PREFACE. 

upon  the  agitation  of  the  question.  Many  white 
and  colored  members  are  not  conversant  with  the 
history  of  our  Church  touching  this  subject.  It 
has  always  been  a  question  to  many,  why  men  of 
the  race  within  the  Church  have  not  been  as  ready 
to  write  the  actual  facts  in  the  case,  as  some  of  the 
race  in  other  Churches  have  been  to  record  many 
half  truths  relating  thereto.  It  is  true  that  while 
the  public  eye  and  ear  appear  always  open  and 
attentive  to  anything  written  or  spoken  by  those 
who  can  claim  kin  with  Jefferson,  Clay,  Sumner, 
Lincoln,  or  Grant,  there  is  an  apparent  unwilling- 
ness to  give  audience  to  those  who  have  always 
been  subjected  to  ostracism. 

These  lines  are  written  because  it  is  believed  that 
our  Church  has  had  to  suffer  because  only  one  side  of 
the  story  has  been  told  by  any  person  of  the  race, 
and  in  nearly,  if  not  every  instance,  by  those  un- 
friendly to  the  relation  the  colored  man  has  sustained 
to  the  Church;  because  some  wrong  impressions 
may  be  righted  by  the  collation  of  facts  that  lay 
bare  the  glaring  inaccuracies  hitherto  related  con- 
cerning the  imposition  of  the  white  members  of  the 
Church  upon  the  colored ;  to  show  that,  so  far  as 
the  question  goes,  the  heart  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  has  always  been  right;  and  that, 
though  errors  may  have  been  committed,  they  have 
been,  in  most  instances,  from  the  head  and  not  from 
the  heart  of  the  Church;  that  it  has  come  as 
near  reaching  the  proper  solution  of  the  question, 


PREFACE.  5 

"What  shall  be  done  with  the  colored  man?"  as 
any  other  organization  that  has  had  to  do  with  the 
question. 

There  has  been  no  intentional  reflection  or  false 
or  prejudicial  statement  made  herein.  Many  *'  stub- 
born facts  "  have  been  left  out,  that  might  have  been 
properly  included.  Though  the  story  has  not  been 
told  with  the  polished  language  of  a  Ciiesterfield, 
nor  the  logical  acuteness  of  Aristotle,  nor  w  ith  the 
erudite  diction  of  one  born  in  the  college,  it  is 
hoped  that  some  good,  and  no  harm,  may  be  accom- 
plished thereby ;  those  of  the  race  who  have  not 
had  the  opportunity  to  know  some  facts  herein 
related  may  be  enabled  to  teach  their  children  that 
there  is  no  need  of  blushing  when  the  past  history 
of  the  Church  touching  this  question  is  being  re- 
cited ;  but  that  it  is  a  benefit  to  the  race,  as  well  as 
an  honor,  to  be  numbered  with  the  million  and  a 
half  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAOB. 

Before  the  War, 17 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Color-line  Secessions, 35 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Crisis — Its  Cause, 64 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Colored  Pastorate, 83 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Retrospect, 104 

CHAPTER  VI. 
During  the  War, 116 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  General  Conference  of  1864, 130 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Beginning  of  a  Great  Work, 148 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Colored  Bishop  Question, 167 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Why  ask  for  a  Bishop  of  African  Descent? 192 

CHAPTER  XL 
The  General  Conference  of  1884, 207 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Problem, 230 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Theory  and  Practice — a  General  Discussion, 259 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
What  will  the  Harvest  be? 292 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Union  of  Colored  Methodists, 309 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Rev.  L.  M.  Hagood,  M.  D., Frontispiece. 

Morgan  College,  for  Colored  Students, 48 

New  Orleans  University,  Main  Building, 96 

Bennett  Seminary,  Greensboro,  N.  C, 144 

Rev,  a.  E.  P.  Albert,  D.  D., 192 

Mehabry  Medical  College,  Nashville,  Tenn,,  ....  240 

Art  Department  of  Claflin  University, 288 

Gammon  Theological  Seminary,  Library  Building,  .  .  312 


INTRODUCTION. 


IT  is  a  difficult  matter  to  write  of  a  battle  while  it  is 
still  raging.  The  combatants  are  not  usually  the 
best  judges  of  the  merits  of  their  cases.  Prejudice, 
education,  preconceived  notions  of  the  right  or  wrong  in 
the  case,  prevent  the  mind  from  weighing  the  argu- 
ments with  equity.  There  are  principles  lying  at  the 
foundation  of  ethics  which  will  not  be  denied  by  Chris- 
tians. They  come  with  the  authority  of  a  "Thus  saith 
the  Lord."  However  distasteful  these  truths  may  be 
to  the  natural  man,  the  obligation  to  receive  them  still 
remains.  The  Lord  quoted  certain  proverbs  which  were 
authorities  among  the  Jews,  which  they  had  observed  as 
rules  for  their  action  towards  others.  One  was  "Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy."  Christ 
gives  another,  and  with  divine  authority:  "But  I  say 
unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  do  good  to  them  that 
hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefuUy  use  you 
and  persecute  you."  Such  teachings  were  not  palatable 
in  that  day,  any  more  than  in  the  present.  Human 
nature  was  no  more  ready  to  receive  and  practice  such 
truths  then  than  now.  But  the  obligation  existed  then, 
and  still  survives.  Then,  too,  the  Savior  taught  another 
lesson  equally  unpalatable  to  the  Jew.  The  man  who 
fell  among  thieves  was  left  by  priest  and  Levite  to 
suffer,  but  was  delivered  by  the  Samaritan,  who  was 

9 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

considered  an  enemy.  "Who  is  my  neighbor?"  was  the 
question  that  brought  out  this  answer  from  Jesus  with 
its  illustration;  viz.,  that  every  one  needing  help  is  a 
neighbor.  The  two  great  precepts  of  the  same  Teacher 
embrace  all  that  is  necessary  in  the  practical  treatment 
of  the  question  of  our  relation  to  others:  "Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself;"  and,  "Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them."  Whatever  apology  there  may  have  been  for 
slavery  in  the  past,  in  the  days  of  ignorance,  when  God 
winked  at  it,  as  he  did  at  polygamy,  it  is  certain  that 
the  treatment  of  the  slave  as  the  New  Testament  re- 
quires would  have  destroyed  slavery.  To  have  educated 
the  slave  to  read  and  write,  and  otherwise  giving  him 
the  privilege  to  develop  his  mental  faculties ;  to  have 
secured  him  his  wife — a  God-given  right ;  to  have  given 
these  parents  their  rights,  in  obedience  to  the  Divine  com- 
mand, to  train  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord ;  to  secure  to  them  their  right 
of  a  fair  compensation  for  their  labor,  and  to  use  it  as 
they  chose  for  their  own  benefit ;  to  have  granted  them 
the  privilege  of  worshiping  their  Maker  as  heaven  re- 
quired,— would  have  destroyed  the  whole  system  of  invol- 
untary servitude  as  it  existed  in  these  United  States. 
More  than  two  centuries  slavery  continued,  while  the 
enlightened  conscience  of  the  nation  protested  against 
the  system,  against  the  traflBc  in  human  beings,  against  its 
demoralizing  influences  on  the  white,  and  its  degrading 
influence  on  the  black  man. 

Methodism  came  into  the  country,  and  found  slavery 
intrenched  in  its  laws  and  civilization.  Its  preachers 
proclaimed  a  gospel  of  regeneration,  of  love  to  God,  of 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

a  personal  knowledge  of  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  witness 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  love  to  neighbors.  The  converts 
declared  the  religion  of  Christ:  the  "love  that  suffer- 
eth  long  and  is  kind."  It  turned  out  the  old  man 
and  let  in  the  new.  White  and  black  shared  alike  in 
the  new  life.  Down  in  the  cabin,  up  in  the  "great 
house,"  alike  were  heard  the  shouts  of  joy  over  this  new- 
found pearl  of  great  price.  Tears  of  joy  coursed  down 
the  ivory  and  the  ebony  cheek,  as  each  spoke  of  re- 
deeming love.  Melted  by  this  divine  fire,  fused  into 
one  spirit,  there  came  to  heart,  to  conscience,  to  under- 
standing, as  the  white  clasped  the  black  hand  with  lov- 
ing grip,  the  whispered  voice  of  an  inner  consciousness, 
"Surely  we  be  brethren."  White  Bishop  Asbury  de- 
clared the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  black  Harry 
by  his  side  preached  the  same  gospel  of  the  Son  of 
God.  The  black  messenger  was  honored  by  the  divine 
presence  attending  his  Word,  as  well  as  the  white,  and 
souls  were  saved  when  black  Harry  pointed  sinners  to 
the  cross,  as  well  as  when  the  first  bishop  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  called  them  to  repentance. 

Peter  was  astonished  when  he  was  sent  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. He  was  more  so  when  he  saw  them  receive  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  heard  them  declare  the 
wonderful  things  of  God.  But  he  recognized  them  as 
brethren ;  and  when  his  people  at  Jerusalem  call  him 
to  account  for  his  conduct  in  going  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, he  gives  the  history  of  the  event,  and  sums  it  all 
up  in  these  words:  "Forasmuch  then  as  God  gave 
them  the  like  gift  as  he  did  unto  us,  who  believed  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  what  was  I  that  I  could  withstand 
God?"    This  settled    the  question   for  Peter,  that  the 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

Gentiles  were  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  blessings  of 
the  Jew,  as  followers  of  Christ.  If  God  honored  the 
blacks  with  his  Spirit's  presence,  filling  them  with  joy 
and  peace,  enabling  them  to  show  forth  the  power  of 
a  Christian  life  in  the  fruits  of  holy  living;  if  he 
anointed  more  than  one  black  Harry  "to  preach  good 
tidings  unto  the  meek,  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord,"  and  honored  their  ministry  in  awakening 
and  saving  souls,  is  it  a  matter  of  wonder  that  there 
should  be  the  conviction  in  the  minds  of  Methodists  that 
these  slaves  are  men  like  ourselves  ?  If  men,  then  they 
are  our  neighbors;  if  our  neighbors,  then  we  must  love 
them  as  ourselves.  If  we  love  them  as  men — as  our- 
selves— then  slavery,  as  it  exists  here,  is  wrong.  The 
enlightened  conscience  of  the  Methodists  said,  "  Slavery 
is  wrong;"  and  this  conviction  was  soon  embodied  in  the 
question,  which  found  its  way  into  the  Church  law,  and 
held  its  place  there  till  it  received  its  formal,  practical 
answer  in  emancipation,  "What  shall  be  done  for  the 
extirpation  of  the  evil  of  slavery  ?" 

The  author  of  this  book  has  treated  of  the  relation 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  the  colored  people 
from  this  stand-point  of  a  clear  perception  of  the  evil 
of  slavery,  and  the  unrighteousness  of  one  Christian 
holding  his  fellow-Christian,  his  brother  in  Christ,  as  a 
chattel.  The  writer  traces  the  action  of  the  law-making 
power  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  nearly  a 
hundred  years,  in  her  treatment  of  the  colored  man  as  a 
member  of  this  Church,  as  an  office-holder,  and  as  a 
preacher  under  the  system  of  slavery. 

The  author  shows  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  has  never  swerved  fz-om  the  recognition  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

rights  of  her  colored  members,  in  all  her  general  and 
annual  conferences.  She  denounced  slavery  as  an  evil 
to  be  extirpated,  and  at  one  time  required  her  members 
to  emancipate  their  slaves.  (Had  she  adhered  to  her 
requirement,  what  a  sea  of  wasted  treasure,  what  a  world 
of  agony  of  the  slave,  what  an  ocean  of  bitter  strife, 
and  what  a  host  of  precious  lives  might  have  been 
saved !)  She  forbade  the  buying  and  selling  slaves ;  she 
tried  to  enforce  rules  for  the  merciful  treatment  of  the 
bondmen ;  she  made  provision  to  have  all  of  the  gospel 
preached  to  them  that  the  masters  would  allow  or  the 
preacher  thought  safe.  She  did  what  she  could  to  have 
the  relation  of  liusband  and  wife  duly  recognized.  He 
also  tells  us  that,  as  soon  as  the  sounds  of  battle  had 
ceased,  this  Church  began  her  work  again  among  the 
colored  people.  She  organized  them  into  Churches, 
took  their  own  men  and  made  them  pastors;  although 
poorly  qualified  for  this  work,  received  them  into  confer- 
ences with  their  white  brethren,  and  gave  them  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  members  and  ministers  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  reluctance  of  some  to  accept  the  situation  of 
Negro  equality  in  the  Church  led  to  the  discussion  of 
the  question.  What  shall  we  do  with  the  Negro?  The 
author  gives  the  outline  of  this  discussion  and  the 
action  of  the  Church  authorities  in  reference  to  it.  The 
unwillingness  to  recognize  the  manhood  and  brotherhood 
of  the  Negro  on  the  part  of  some  members  and  minis- 
ters of  the  Church,  gave  rise  to  such  treatment  of  the 
colored  brethren  that  they  were  easily  persuaded  that 
the  white  brethren  did  not  want  to  be  associated  with 
them  in   Church  or  conference  relation.     Hence,  when 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

the  white  brethren  asked  the  colored  to  go  out  of 
the  conferences  and  set  up  for  themselves,  the  col- 
ored brethren  did  so,  not  always  because  they  thought 
it  absolutely  best,  but  best  under  the  circumstances; 
not  because  they  thought  it  right,  but  because  they 
were  disposed  to  yield  to  the  desires  of  the  white  breth- 
ren. The  reasons  for  the  treatment  of  the  Negro  are 
very  much  the  same  as  the  grounds  for  neglect  of 
the  poor,  ignorant,  and  degraded  of  any  community. 
People  do  not  like  to  come  in  contact  with  the  unculti- 
vated in  intellect  and  morals.  Hence  the  fine  church, 
where  it  is  written  in  the  dress  and  bearing  of  the  wor- 
shipers, "No  poor  are  desired  here."  Hence  the  mis- 
sion Churches,  where  the  action  of  both  the  poor  and 
the  wealthy  members  of  the  Church  says  :  "No  rich  are 
expected  here."  There  is  a  disposition  to  separate  the 
Christian  Church  into  classes  corresponding  to  classes  in 
social  life.  The  distinctions,  so  marked  in  society,  are 
carried  into  the  Church.  In  the  case  of  the  Negro,  this 
feeling  against  the  ignorance,  uncouthness,  which  is 
found  in  the  lowest  strata  of  whites,  is  intensified  by 
two  circumstances,  which  belong  exclusively  to  the 
Negro,  The  first  is  the  color.  There  exists  more  or 
less  color  repugnance  in  most  persons  not  accustomed 
to  seeing  colored  people.  There  is  less  objection  to 
having  colored  persons  about  them  among  the  South- 
ern people  than  the  Northern.  The  Southern  women 
largely  let  the  slaves  nurse  their  children,  and  many  of 
the  prominent  Southern  men  and  Avomen  speak  very 
kindly  of  their  Negro  mammies — color  repugnance  is  not 
instinctive.  The  second  great  cause  of  the  unwilling- 
ness  to  treat    the  Negro   as   an    equal,   in   State  and 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

Church  is,  no  doubt,  his  former  condition  of  servitude. 
That  it  is  not  altogether  his  color  is  evident  from  the 
treatment  that  the  Indian,  the  Hindoo,  or  the  Japanese 
receives,  many  of  whom  are  as  dark  as  the  great  mass 
of  the  Negroes.  He  was  a  slave,  kept  a  slave,  and 
wronged  by  the  white  man.  One  of  the  hardest  things 
for  poor  human  nature  to  do  is  to  confess  a  wrong  and 
make  restitution.  That  slavery  is  wrong,  is  recognized 
by  all  the  action  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on 
that  subject;  and  the  question  should  be,  How  can  we 
best  atone  for  the  wrong,  and  remove  from  the  Negro, 
as  speedily  as   possible,   all  the  effects  of  this  wrong? 

That  the  Negro  is  an  inferior  part  of  the  human 
family  is  stoutly  asserted  by  some  people,  though  it  has 
never  been  proved.  Suppose,  for  the  moment,  we  ad- 
mit it;  granted  that  the  Negro  is  inferior  in  some 
respects,  no  matter  what;  then  we  ask,  Does  this  mis- 
fortune entitle  the  more  gifted  part  of  God's  family  to 
the  right  of  treating  the  unfortunate  ones  unjustly,  of 
depriving  them  of  liberty ,•  of  the  pursuit  of  happiness? 
Does  the  misfortune  of  the  hunchback  entitle  the  straight 
ones  to  the  privilege  of  abusing  him  ?  Does  the  crii)ple, 
on  his  crutches,  entitle  the  strong  to  the  right  of  elbow- 
ing him  out  of  the  way?  Do  not  these  very  misfortunes 
demand  our  sympathy  and  kindly  offices?  Why  not? 
If  the  Negro  is  unfortunate,  let  him  have  our  kind- 
ness instead  of  our  kicks  ?  The  caricatures  of  the  Negro, 
seen  in  the  public  prints,  have  their  influence  in  con- 
firming this  low  estimate  of  the  colored  people. 

The  history  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
her  ecclesiastical  action,  is  generally  worthy  of  com- 
mendation.    There   are,   however,   cases  of  individual 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

action  that  are  not  creditable  to  these  persons  or  so- 
cieties, either  as  patriots,  philanthropists,  or  Christians. 
The  Protestant  Churches  should  be  as  open  to  the  Negro 
as  to  any  other  division  of  the  human  family.  The 
public  places  should  be  as  easy  of  access  to  them  as  to 
others.  They  should  receive  just  as  much  for  their 
money  as  the  white,  red,  or  brown  man.  This  is  not  in 
the  power  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  bestow ; 
but  the  membership  should  bear  in  mind  that  with  God 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  The  utterances  which 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  made  are  all  de- 
manded by  the  enlightenment  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
What  is  needed  is  for  the  practice  to  correspond  with 
these  utterances.  Why  should  the  Negro  be  ostracized 
any  more  than  any  other  member  of  the  human  family  ? 
Why  should  our  Churches  and  schools  be  closed  to 
him  ?  Why  should  he  be  compelled  to  ride  in  the 
smoking-car,  when  he  pays  for  first-class  accommodations  ? 
Why  driven  from  our  hotels,  and  forced  to  seek  shelter  in 
private  families?  Why  are  the  colored  ministers  and 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  compelled 
to  endure  these  wrongs?  The  author  might  have  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  this  Church,  with  its  millions 
of  members  and  adherents,  with  its  press  and  its  pul- 
pits, has  never  raised  her  mighty  voice  in  a  grand  pro- 
test against  these  wrongs  perpetrated  against  a  quarter 
of  a  million  of  her  membership.  What  is  needed,  per- 
haps, most  of  all,  is  to  regard  the  Negro  as  belonging  to 
the  human  family,  and  treat  him  as  such.  The  social 
question,  which  is  protruded  upon  all  occasions,  must 
not  be  a  matter  of  legislation ;  each  individual  must 
settle    that  for   himself.     An    intelligent   Negro   lady, 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

when  asked  by  a  white  man,  "Shall  we  admit  the 
Negro  to  our  parlors?"  replied,  "If  you  white  gentle- 
men will  stay  out  of  our  parlors,  we  will  stay  out  of 
yours."  The  social  bugbear,  that  is  constantly  bandied 
about  in  this  discussion,  has  no  more  to  do  with  the 
recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  Negro  than  has  the 
question  of  the  annexation  of  Canada.  The  author  has 
given  facts  of  history  which  all  the  Church  should 
know ;  and,  knowing,  they  will  have  no  reason  to  be 
ashamed  of  the  record  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  This  subject  demands  the  honest,  earnest  con- 
sideration of  the  membership  of  the  entire  Christian 
Church,  and  specially  of  the  membership  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Ciiurch.  The  fact  that  there  are  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  million  of  her  members  who  have  as 
much  right  to  recognition  in  her  sanctuaries  as  any 
other  class  of  men,  who  are  invited  and  urged  to  go  off 
by  themselves,  and  be  ignorant  teachers  of  ignorant 
scholars,  because  the  Heavenly  Father  has  given  them 
a  little  darker  dress,  and  because  they  have  been  more 
abused  and  wronged  than  any  other  part  of  the  human 
family,  is  not  creditable  to  those  who  profess  to  be  gov- 
erned by  the  Golden  Rule.  The  Church  should  see  to 
it  that  the  colored  members  of  her  communion  may  feel 
at  home  in  her  churches,  whether  they  be  stone- front 
palaces  in  the  metropolis  of  the  nation  or  cabins  in  the 
swamps  or  mountains  of  the  South.  To  bring  this 
about,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  not  done  all 
she  can.  Theoretically,  the  utterances  are  all  right, 
but  the  practice  must  be  brought  up  to  the  theory. 
The  press  and  the  pulpit  should  give  no  uncertain  sound. 
The  conferences,  annual  as  well  as  General,  should  be 


18  INTRODVCTION. 

exemplifications  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the 
Fatherhood  of  God.  This  book  will  wake  up  thought 
on  a  subject  on  which  the  membership  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  need  to  think  and  to  act.  The  mill- 
ions of  colored  people  in  this  country  need  to  be  held 
close  to  the  heart  of  Protestant  Christianity,  so  they  will 
be  found  on  the  side  of  the  Church  of  God  in  the 
struggle  for  the  conquest  of  this  world  for  Christ.  The 
book  well  merits  a  careful  reading,  as  the  author  speaks 
from  the  stand-point  of  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the 
treatment  of  the  Negro,  as  he  has  had  some  personal 
experiences  which  entitle  him  to  be  heard.  He  writes 
clearly,  and  presents  his  case  forcibly,  yet  without  bit- 
terness, and  recognizes  gratefully  what  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  has  done  for  the  colored  man.  The 
spirit  of  the  writer  is  commendable,  although  the  con- 
flict is  not  ended,  and  he  is  one  of  the  combatants. 

JOHN  BRADEN. 
Central  Tennessee  College, 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  1889. 


THE  COLORED  MAN 

IN  THE 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BEFORE  THE  WAR. 

FROM  time  immemorial  men  have  differed  upon 
nearly  every  phase  of  human  existence ;  and,  for 
that  matter,  every  other  kind  of  existence.  So  far  as 
we  know,  no  organization  has  ever  existed,  formed 
by  man,  or  formed  by  Deity  for  man  (it  makes  no 
difference  for  what  purpose  it  was  formed),  in  which 
there  was  not  manifested  individuality  to  the  point 
of  wide  divergence  on  most  important  questions. 
Unconverted  human  nature  is  the  same  the  world 
over,  and  different  propensities  and  dispositions, 
coupled  with  jealousy,  have  manifested  themselves 
in  nearly  every  family  since  that  of  the  first  pair 
driven  in  shame  from  Eden. 

As  strange  as  it  may  sound,  the  Church  of  God 
has  been  no  exception  to  this  rule  in  general,  nor 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  particular. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  born  of  neces- 

19 


20  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

sity,  and  has  perpetuated  itself  and  prospered  in  pro- 
portion as  it  has  obeyed  the  mandates  of  Almighty 
God.  When,  for  any  reason,  the  Church  has  turned 
to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left  hand  out  of  "  the 
king's  highway/'  God  has  gently  reproved  her.  It 
was  but  a  short  time  after  its  organization  when  it 
became  a  recognized,  potent  factor  in  God's  hands 
of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  those  with  whom 
it  had  influence.  No  other  Church,  since  its  organ- 
ization in  this  country,  has  figured  more  conspicu- 
ously than  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  all 
the  living,  burning  questions  touching  the  salvation 
of  men's  bodies  and  souls.  It  may  be  true  that  in 
many  instances  the  Church  has  not  come  up  to  the 
ideal  of  some  of  its  devotees,  or  accomplished  all 
it  was  considered  able  to  do.  Probably  instances 
would  have  occurred,  if  it  had  succeeded  in  the 
former,  when  it  would  have  displeased  God;  if  the 
latter,  it  might  have  bound  error  with  a  rope  of 
sand,  and  thus  frustrated  all  eifective  plans. 

From  the  beginning  the  Church  has  gone  after 
"the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  A  Church 
needs  no  higher  encomium  than  that  the  "  common 
people"  hear  her  ministers  gladly.  This  has  been, 
and  we  hope  now  is,  the  glory  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Should  a  time  ever  come  when 
this  can  not  be  truthfully  said  of  the  Church,  her 
pristine  glory  will  have  departed.  AVorldly  popu- 
larity has  not  hitherto  been  the  acme  of  her  ambition. 
May   it  never  be!     Where  duty  called,  popular  or 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        21 

unpopular,  the  Church  has  given  the  command, 
"  Go  forward,"  with  the  understanding  that  "  it  is 
better  to  obey  God  than  man."  The  wholesome 
doctrine  of  "  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man,"  as  taught  by  the  apostle  when 
he  exclaimed,  "God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  na- 
tions of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth," 
has  been  taught  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
ever  since  John  Wesley  declared  slavery  "the  sum 
of  all  villainies." 

It  may  be,  as  you  scrutinize  the  last  sentence,  a 
fear  may  arise  that  it  will  not  remain  intact  under 
the  electric  light  of  investigation.  The  redeeming 
feature  is,  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has 
come  as  near  preaching  and  practicing  that  doctrine 
as  any  other  American  ecclesiastical  organization. 
This  may  not  be  much  in  its  favor,  when  taken  in 
reference  to  the  colored  man,  but  it  is  something. 
There  has  never  been  an  hour  since  Bishop  Asbury 
preached  Jesus  and  him  crucified  to  a  poor  slave  on 
the  bank  of  a  river  in  South  Carolina,  in  the 
which  the  great  heart  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  did  not  throb  with  sympathy  for  the  poor 
colored  man  in  this  country.  As  evidence,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  look  up  or  remember  the  Her- 
culean efforts  it  made  on  his  behalf  as  early  as  1796, 
to  save  him  from  the  cruelty  and  barbarism  of  his 
subjection.  Could  the  Church,  at  so  early  a  period, 
have  received  the  moral  and  religious  support  of 
the  good  people  of  other  denominations,  the  civil 


22  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

war  might  have  been  averted,  and  the  poor  slave 
rescued  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  from 
the  midnight  of  sin  to  the  marvelous  light  and  lib- 
erty of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  following  explains  itself  on  this  question, 
as  enacted  by  the  General  Conference  of  1796  : 

"  Question.  What  regulations  shall  be  made  for 
the  extirpation  of  the  crying  evil  of  African  slavery? 

''  Ansicer  1.  We  declare,  that  we  are  more  than 
ever  convinced  of  the  great  evil  of  the  African  slavery 
which  still  exists  in  these  United  States ;  and  do  most 
earnestly  recommend  to  the  yearly  conferences,  quar- 
terly meetings,  and  to  those  who  have  the  oversight 
of  districts  and  circuits,  to  be  exceedingly  cautious 
what  persons  they  admit  to  official  stations  in  our 
Church ;  and,  in  the  case  of  future  admission  to 
official  stations,  to  require  such  security  of  those 
who  hold  slaves,  for  the  emancipation  of  them,  imme- 
diately or  gradually,  as  the  laws  of  the  States 
respectively,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  will 
admit.  And  we  do  fully  authorize  all  the  yearly 
conferences  to  make  whatever  regulations  they  judge 
proper,  in  the  present  case,  respecting  the  admission 
of  persons  to  official  stations  in  our  Cliurch. 

"2.  No  slaveholder  shall  be  received  into  society 
till  the  preacher  who  has  the  oversight  of  the  cir- 
cuit has  spoken  to  him  freely  and  faithfully  on  the 
subject  of  slavery. 

"3.  Every  member  of  the  society  who  sells  a 
slave  shall  immediately,  after  full  proof,  be  excluded 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       23 

the  society.  And  if  any  member  of  our  society 
purchase  a  slave,  the  ensuing  quarterly  meeting 
shall  determine  on  the  number  of  years  in  which  the 
slave  so  purchased  would  work  out  the  price  of  his 
purchase.  And  the  person  so  purchasing  shall,  im- 
mediately after  such  determination,  execute  a  legal 
instrument  for  the  manumission  of  such  slave  at  the 
expiration  of  the  term  determined  by  the  quarterly 
meeting.  And  in  default  of  his  executing  such  in- 
strument of  manumission,  or  on  his  refusal  to  submit 
his  case  to  the  judgment  of  the  quarterly  meeting, 
such  member  shall  be  excluded  the  society.  Pro- 
vided, also,  that  in  the  case  of  a  female  slave,  it  shall 
be  inserted  in  the  aforesaid  instrument  of  manumis- 
sion, that  all  her  children  which  shall  be  born  during 
the  years  of  her  servitude  shall  be  free  at  the  follow- 
ing times,  namely :  Every  female  child  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  and  every  male  child  at  the  age  of 
twenty -five.  Nevertheless,  if  the  member  of  our  so- 
ciety, executing  the  said  instrument  of  manumission, 
judge  it  proper,  he  may  fix  the  times  of  manumis- 
sion of  the  children  of  the  female  slaves  before- 
mentioned,  at  an  earlier  age  than  that  which  is 
prescribed  above. 

"  4.  The  preachers  and  other  members  of  our 
society  are  requested  to  consider  the  subject  of 
Negro  slavery  with  deep  attention  till  the  ensuing 
General  Conference;  and  that  they  impart  to  the 
General  Conference,  through  the  medium  of  the 
yearly    conferences,   or    otherwise,   any    important 


24  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

thoughts  upon  the  subject,  that  the  conference  may 
have  full  light,  in  order  to  take  further  steps 
toward  eradicating  this  enormous  evil  from  that  part 
of  the  Church  of  God  to  which  they  are  united." 
During  the  ensuing  quadrennium  this  all-impor- 
tant question  was  argued  and  studied  as  never 
before  within  the  Church.  Considerable  feeling 
was  manifested  in  many  instances,  showing  at  once 
the  deep  interest  the  question  had  produced.  Men 
within  and  without  the  Church  continued  to  ex- 
amine the  question,  until  the  question  of  the  con- 
tinuation of  human  slavery  became  the  question  of 
the  hour.  More  than  one  slaveholding  member  of 
the  Church  declared,  with  all  the  earnestness  of  his 
soul,  that  it  was  unwise  for  the  Church  to  shoulder 
such  a  stupendous  burden.  Others  declared  it  would 
be  suicidal  for  the  General  Conference  to  interfere 
with  the  deep-rooted  institution  of  slavery.  As 
the  quadrennium  advanced,  the  question  was  more 
vehemently  agitated.  Many  tried  to  conjecture  what 
action  the  ensuing  General  Conference  of  1800 
would  take  on  this  subject,  while  others  tried  to 
forestall  any  anticipated  action.  It  was  openly  de- 
clared by  the  more  sanguine  slaveholders  within  the 
Church  that  the  General  Conference  would  pay  no 
attention  to  the  question  of  slavery ;  that  in  the 
event  that  memorials  or  resolutions  should  be  pre- 
sented touching  the  question,  they  would  at  once 
be  referred  to  a  committee,  which  would  fail  to 
notice  them.     Others  as  hopefully  and  boldly  de- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       25 

clared  that  no  Christian  Church  could  be  consistent 
and  indorse  human  slavery ;  that  the  future  hope 
of  the  Church  in  its  effort  to  spread  Scriptural 
holiness  was  dependent,  in  a  measure,  upon  the 
attitude  it  sustained  toward  human  slavery. 

Those  who  have  engaged  in  the  heated  discus- 
sions that  have  arisen  within  the  General  Confer- 
ences since  that  day,  upon  questions  growing  out  of 
the  system  of  slavery  in  this  country,  can  probably 
imagine  the  situation  at  that  time.  The  General 
Conference  of  1800  sat  from  the  6th  to  the  20tli 
of  May,  in  Baltimore.  Delegates  from  each  of  the 
eight  annual  conferences  were  present.  Each  dele- 
gate saw  the  ominous  clouds,  and  knew  the  storm 
was  brewing.  This  question  soon  came  up  for  con- 
sideration. We  give  as  near  as  possible  a  detailed 
account  of  the  proceedings  touching  the  question  of 
slavery : 

General  Conference,  1800. — "Brother  Or- 
mond  moved.  That  whereas  the  laws  now  in 
force  in  two  or  more  of  the  United  States  point- 
edly prohibit  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  the 
third  clause  of  the  ninth  section  of  the  Discipline 
forbids  the  selling  of  slaves,  it  is  evident  that  the 
members  of  the  Methodist  societies  who  own  slaves, 
and  remove  themselves  and  families  to  another 
State,  or  to  distant  parts  of  the  same  State,  and 
leave  a  husband  or  a  wife  behind,  held  in  bond- 
age by  another  person,  part  man  and  wife,  wliich 
is  a  violation  of  the  righteous  laws  of  God,   and 

3 


26  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

contrary  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  families; 
and  whereas,  it  is  further  observed  that  the  rule 
now  existing  among  us  prevents  our  members  in- 
creasing the  number  of  their  slaves  by  purchase, 
and  tolerates  an  increase  of  number  by  birtli,  which 
children  are  often  given  to  the  enemy  of  the  Meth- 
odists,— my  mind  being  seriously  impressed  with 
these  and  several  other  considerations,  I  move, 
That  this  General  Conference  take  the  momentous 
subject  of  slavery  into  consideration,  and  make 
such  alterations  in  the  old  rule  as  may  be  thought 
proper. 

"Brother  Timmons  moved.  That  if  any  of  our 
traveling  preachers  marry  persons  holding  slaves, 
and  thereby  become  slaveholders,  they  shall  be  ex- 
cluded from  our  societies,  unless  they  execute  a 
legar emancipation  of  their  slaves,  agreeably  to  the 
laws  of  the  State  wherein  they  live.     Superseded. 

Friday  Morning,  May  16th. — "  Brother  Snethcn 
moved,  That  this  General  Conference  do  resolve, 
that  from  this  time  forth  no  slaveholder  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Negatived. 

"Brother  Bloodgood  moved.  That  all  Negro 
children  belonging  to  the  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist society,  who  shall  be  born  in  slavery  after 
the  fourth  day  of  July,  1800,  shall  be  emanci- 
pated— males  at  —  years,  and  females  at  —  years. 
Negatived. 

"Brother  Lathomus  moved.  That  every   mem- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       27 

ber  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  holding 
slaves  shall,  within  the  term  of  one  year  from  the 
date  hereof,  give  an  instrument  of  emancipation  for 
all  his  slaves,  and  the  quarterly-meeting  conference 
shall  determine  on  the  time  the  slaves  shall  serve, 
if  the  laws  of  the  State  do  not  expressly  prohibit 
their  emancipation.     Negatived. 

"Moved,  That  when  any  of  our  traveling 
preachers  become  owners  of  a  slave  or  slaves  by 
any  means,  they  shall  forfeit  their  ministerial  char- 
acter in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  unless 
they  execute,  if  it  be  practicable,  a  legal  emancipa- 
tion of  such  slave  or  slaves,  agreeably  to  the  laws 
of  the  State  wherein  they  live.     Agreed  to." 

This  motion  was  originally  offered  by  Brother 
Timmons,  and  was  conceived  by  the  secretary  to 
have  been  superseded  in  the  progress  of  the  busi- 
ness upon  slavery.  But  the  conference  voted  that 
they  would  act  upon  it,  with  the  amendments;  the 
same  as  a  new  motion. 

It  can  be  plainly  seen  by  the  foregoing  report 
into  what  a  strait  the  General  Conference  was 
brought  by  this  question,  as  well  as  how  earnestly 
and  faithfully  that  General  Conference  strove  to 
ascertain  "  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit "  as  to  the 
question.  Just  think  of  the  fact  that  in  one  day  of 
that  General  Conference  six  different  phases  of  this 
(piestion  were  presented.  Amid  these  were :  (1)  To 
prevent  the  separation  of  husband  and  wife  ;  (2)  To 
change    a    former    rule   that  allowed   a   Methodist 


28  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

to  buy  a  husband  or  wife  when  they  belonged  to 
separate  parties,  so  as  to  prevent  a  separation. 
Even  in  this  form  the  buying  and  selling  of  human 
beings  was  objected  to  strenuously.  It  was  consid- 
ered "  doing  evil,  that  good  might  come  therefrom." 
As  we  stop  to  contemplate  it,  we  shudder  to 
render  a  decision.  They  voted  down  every  propo- 
sition that  looked  in  any  way  like  buying  or  selling 
human  beings.  It  is  not  superstition  to  say,  they 
attempted  to  "  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  evil." 
They  consented  to  allow,  (1)  The  expulsion  of  any 
minister  of  the  Church  "  who  shall  marry  a  woman 
owning  slaves;"  (2)  No  slaveholder  to  be  received 
into  the  Church ;  (3)  All  traveling  preachers  who 
owned  slaves  to  forfeit  their  ministerial  character. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  such  action  was  taken,  when  it 
is  remembered  that  the  Church  was  even  then 
recognizing  and  licensing  colored  local  ministers,  and 
employing  them  to  preach.  It  now  concluded  not 
only  nominally  to  recognize  local  preachers,  but  to 
ordain  them  as  well.  As  early  as  1784,  at  "the 
Christmas  conference,"  rules  prohibiting  slavery 
had  been  enacted.  And  these  rules  were  not  simply 
hanging  about  the  necks  of  slaveholders  as  mere 
ornaments ;  for  it  was  positively  declared  by  the 
Church,  "every  person  concerned,  who  will  not  com- 
ply with  these  rules,  shall  have  the  privilege  quietly 
to  withdraw."  We  know  of  no  instance  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church  in  which  there  has  ever  been 
a   single    human   being   directly    driven    from    her 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       29 

ranks,  pews,  or  pulpit  because  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude.  Then  why  wonder 
when  such  a  Church  ordains  one  of  her  sons,  and 
sends  him  forth  to  tell  with  simplicity  the  story  of 
the  cross? 

Many  objected  to  going  so  far  with  the  slaves, 
for  fear  of  offending  the  slaveholder.  But  the 
Church  paid  no  attention  to  such  cries;  hence  the 
following  action  was  taken  by  the  General  Confer- 
ence, under  the  heading 

"  A  REGULATION  respecting  (lie  ordination  of  colored  people  to  the 
Ojffke  of  deacom: 

"The  bishops  have  obtained  leave,  by  the  suf- 
frages of  this  General  Conference,  to  ordain  local 
deacons  of  our  African  brethren  in  places  where 
they  have  built  a  house  or  houses  for  the  worship 
of  God:  Provided,  they  have  a  person  among  them 
qualified  for  that  office,  and  he  can  obtain  an  elec- 
tion of  two-thirds  of  the  male  members  of  the 
society  to  which  he  belongs,  and  a  recommendation 
from  the  minister  who  has  the  charge,  and  his 
fellovz-laborers  in  the  city  or  circuit." 

This  action  at  once  recognized  the  efforts  of  the 
race  at  elevation,  and  gave  the  colored  people  to 
understand,  that  though  in  bondage  to  earthly  task- 
masters, they  were  fellow-heirs  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints,  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with 
Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous.  The  gainsaying,  slave- 
holding  world  stood  aghast  as  it  read  and  re-read 
the  action  taken  by  that  General  Conference  on  the 


30  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

question  of  human  slavery.  God  pulled  back,  as  it 
were,  the  curtains  of  the  upper  world,  and  blandly 
smiled  approval.  A  general  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  ratified  the  action  in  that  such  a  revival  of 
religion  followed  that  again  the  world  cried,  as 
Methodist  preachers  began  to  preach  Jesus  and  him 
crucified :  "  They  that  have  turned  the  world  upside 
down  are  come  hither  also." 

In  the  General  Conference  that  met  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore,  Md.,  from  May  7th  to  28th,  1804, 
much  discussion  was  had  on  the  question  of  slavery. 
Notwithstanding  other  questions  of  Church  polity 
claimed  the  attention  of  this  conference  to  such  a 
degree  that  Bishop  Asbury  refused  to  vote  on  one 
of  the  questions  put,  the  conference  sympathized 
with  the  colored  man  enough  to  legislate  in  his 
behalf 

A  variety  of  motions  were  proposed  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  and,  after  a  long  conversation, 
Freeborn  Garrettson  moved  "  that  the  subject  of 
slavery  be  left  to  the  three  bishops  to  form  a  sec- 
tion to  suit  the  Southern  and  Northern  States,  as 
they  in  their  wisdom  may  think  best,  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  this  conference."  This  motion  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  conference,  and  was  carried. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Slavery  which, 
with  amendments,  was  adopted  by  the  Conference, 
and  forms  section  nine,  "  Of  Slavery,"  reads : 

"  1.  AVe  declare,  that  we  are  as  much  as  ever  con- 
vinced of  the  great  evil  of  slavery,  and  do  most  ear- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       31 

nestly  recommend  to  the  yearly  conferences,  quar- 
terly-meeting conferences,  and  to  those  who  have  the 
oversight  of  districts,  circuits,  and  stations,  to  be 
exceedingly  cautious  what  persons  they  admit  to 
official  stations  in  our  Church,  and  in  the  case  of 
future  admission  to  official  stations,  to  require  such 
security  of  those  who  hold  slaves,  for  the  emanci- 
pation of  them,  immediately  or  gradually,  as  the 
laws  of  the  States  respectively  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  will  admit ;  and  we  do  fully 
authorize  all  the  yearly  conferences  to  make  whatever 
regulations  they  judge  proper  in  the  present  case 
respecting  the  admission  of  persons  to  official  sta- 
tions in  our  Church. 

"  2.  When  any  traveling  preacher  becomes  the 
owner  of  a  slave,  or  slaves,  by  any  means,  he  shall 
forfeit  his  ministerial  character  in  our  Church, 
unless  he  execute,  if  it  be  practicable,  a  legal  eman- 
cipation of  such  slaves,  conformably  to  the  laws  of 
the  State  in  which  he  lives. 

"3.  No  slaveholder  shall  be  received  in  full 
membership  in  our  society  till  the  preacher  who 
has  the  oversight  of  the  circuit  or  station  has  spoken 
to  him  fully  and  faithfully  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

"4.  Every  member  of  our  society  who  sells  a 
slave,  except  at  the  request  of  the  slave,  in  cases 
of  mercy  or  humanity,  agreeably  to  the  judgment 
of  a  committee  of  three  male  members  of  the 
society,  appointed  by  the  preacher  who  has  the 
charge  of  the  circuit  or  station,  shall,  immediately 


32  TEE  COLORED  MAN. 

after  full  proof,  be  excluded  the  society ;  and  if  any 
members  of  our  society  purchase  a  slave,  the  ensuing 
quarterly-meeting  conference  shall  determine  on  the 
number  of  years  which  the  slave  so  purchased 
should  serve  to  work  out  the  price  of  his  purchase ; 
and  the  person  so  purchasing  shall,  immediately 
after  such  determination,  execute  a  legal  instrument 
for  the  manumission  of  such  slave  at  the  expiration 
of  the  time  determined  by  the  quarterly-meeting 
conference ;  and  in  default  of  his  executing  such 
instrument  of  manumission,  or  on  his  refusal  to 
submit  his  case  to  the  judgment  of  the  quarterly- 
meeting  conference,  such  member  shall  be  excluded 
the  society :  Provided,  that  in  the  case  of  a  female 
slave,  it  shall  be  inserted  in  the  aforesaid  instru- 
ment of  manumission  that  all  her  children  who 
shall  be  born  during  the  years  of  her  servitude 
shall  be  free  at  the  following  times,  viz. ;  every 
female  child  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  every 
male  child  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  :  Provided,  also, 
that  if  a  member  of  our  society  shall  buy  a  slave 
with  a  certificate  of  future  emancipation,  the  terms 
of  emancipation  shall,  notwithstanding,  be  subject 
to  the  decision  of  the  quarterly-meeting  conference. 
Nev'ertheless,  the  members  of  our  societies  in  the 
States  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia  shall  be  exempted  from  the  operations  of 
the  above  rules. 

"  5.  Let   our   preachers   from   time   to  time,  as 
occasion  serves,  admonish  and  exhort  all  slaves  to 


TBE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       33 

render  due  respect  and  obedience  to  the  commands 
and  interests  of  their  respective  masters." 

The  intention  of  the  whole  of  the  foregoing 
resolutions  in  general,  and  the  last  part  in  particular, 
was  to  preserve  peace  between  master  and  slave,  and 
prohibit  the  former  from  having  occasion  to  chastise 
the  latter,  because  the  latter  might  use  his  religious 
privileges  to  his  own  harm.  Though  the  Church 
had  already  a  fixed  purpose  and  established  regula- 
tions touching  the  question  of  slavery,  the  General 
Conference  of  1808,  held  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  from 
May  6th  to  26th,  discussed  it,  and  took  action  upon 
it  again.  An  effort  was  adroitly  made  to  change 
certain  ])aragraphs  in  the  Discipline  against  slavery. 
The  following  settled  the  question  at  that  General 
Conference.  It  was  moved,  by  Stephen  G.  Roszel, 
and  seconded  by  Thomas  Ware,  "That  the  first  two 
paragraphs  of  the  section  on  slavery  be  retained  in 
our  Discipline,  and  that  the  General  Conference 
authorize  each  annual  conference  to  form  their  own 
regulations  relative  to  buying  and  selling  slaves." 
The  motion  was  carried. 

During  the  ensuing  quadrennium  the  question 
of  slavery  was  not  agitated  to  any  great  degree. 
While  the  one  faction  rested  upon  its  laurels,  the 
defeated  faction  was  recuperating  its  numerical 
strength  pursuant  to  another  attack. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1812,  nothing  of 
importance  on  this  question  was  done  or  needed  to 
be  done,  more  than  had  already  been  accomplished. 


34  TEE  COLORED  MAN. 

The  city  of  New  York,  where  the  General  Confer- 
ence was  held,  had  in  it  the  oldest  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  the  John  St.  Church.  Among  its 
first  members  were  colored  people,  who  had  wor- 
shiped there  in  peace  all  along.  Philadelphia, 
where  a  number  of  colored  people  resided,  had  long 
been  celebrated  as  "the  City  of  Churches."  Col- 
ored and  white  Methodists  for  years  had  wor- 
shiped together  there  in  peace.  But  now  a  storm 
was  brewing  that  threatened  not  only  to  inundate  the 
Church,  but  the  roaring  thunder  of  which  would 
likely  rend  the  Church  in  twain,  so  far  as  the  two 
races  within  it  were  concerned. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       35 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  COLOR-I/INE  SECESSIONS. 

WHEN  it  is  remembered  that  the  African  slave- 
trade  in  this  country  was  intrenched  behind 
the  venerated  Constitution,  it  is  not  strange  that 
nearly  every  conflict  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
has  had  touching  slavery  aroused  bitter  opposition 
within  and  without  the  Church.  In  most  instances 
it  is  conceded  that  defeated  or  desperate  enemies, 
when  opposing  a  third  inveterate  foe,  will,  if  an 
opportunity  is  afforded,  unite  against  a  common 
enemy ;  or,  in  other  words,  Pilate  and  Herod  will 
unite.  Working  out  from  within  is  often  found  the 
more  effectual  way,  whether  it  be  a  prison,  a  political 
or  ecclesiastical  party,  or  the  disruption  of  a  Church. 
It  was  thus  done  in  the  secession  of  colored  members 
from  our  Church  in  1816  and  1820.  Among  the 
number  of  colored  members  belonging  to  St.  George's 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Philadelphia  in 
1815  was  a  local  preacher,  Richard  Allen,  who 
afterward  organized  and  became  the  first  bishop  of 
the  "  Bethel  Connection,"  afterwards  known  as 
"the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."  The 
colored  members,  under  his  leadership,  formed  a 
nucleus  of  a  society  for  themselves,  aside  from,  and 


36  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

out  of  the  jurisdiction  of,  the  pastor  of  St.  George's 
Church.  The  entire  aifair  was  local,  and  the  result 
of  the  dissatisfaction  that  arose  was  the  same  as  it 
would  be  to-day  if  a  local  preacher,  white  or  col- 
ored, were  to  organize  a  society  iu  opposition  to  the 
wishes  of  his  pastor,  purchase  Church  property  for 
the  congregation,  or  part  of  it,  and  then  deed  it  to 
a  few  individuals  instead  of  the  Church.  It  has 
been  intimated  by  persons  whose  reputation  rests 
more  or  less  upon  that  and  similar  transactions, 
that  it  was  the  outgrowth  of  neglect  on  the  part  of 
pastor  and  people  of  St.  George's  Church.  Let 
Bishop  Allen  answer  that  question.  He  says: 
"I  was  then  working  for  George  Giger.  Before 
this.  Bishop  Asbury  asked  me  to  travel  with  him. 
The  bishop  proffered  me  what  he  was  receiving, 
my  victuals  and  clothes."  Rev.  R.  Allen  refused 
this  offer,  as  he  says :  "  I  told  him  that  I  thought 
people  ought  to  lay  up  something  while  they  were 
able,  to  support  themselves  in  time  of  sickness  and 
old  age.  But  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would 
not  accept  of  his  j>roposals.  Shortly  after,  I  left 
Hartford  Circuit  and  came  to  Pennsylvania,  on 
Lancaster  Circuit.  I  traveled  several  months  on 
this  circuit  with  the  Revs.  Peter  Moriarty  and  Ira 
Ellis.  The  elder  in  charge  in  Philadelphia  fre- 
quently sent  for  me  to  come  to  the  city.  February, 
1786, 1  came  to  Philadelphia.  Preaching  was  given 
out  for  me  for  five  o'clock  A.  M.,  in  St.  George's 
Church.     I  strove  to  preach  as  well  as  I  could,  but 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        37 

it  was  a  great  cross  to  me ;  but  the  Lord  was  with 
me.  We  had  a  good  time,  and  several  souls  were 
awakened,  and  were  earnestly  seeking  redemption 
in  the  blood  of  Christ.  I  thought  I  would  stop  in 
Philadelphia  a  week  or  two.  I  preached  at  dif- 
ferent places  in  the  city.  My  labor  Avas  much 
blessed ;  I  soon  saw  a  large  field  open  in  seeking 
and  instructing  my  African  brethren.  I  preached 
wherever  I  could  find  an  opening.  I  established 
prayer-meetings;  I  raised  a  society  in  1786  of  forty- 
two  members.  I  saw  the  necessity  of  erecting  a 
place  of  worship  for  the  colored  people  of  the  city; 
but  here  I  met  opposition.  But  three  colored 
brethren  united  with  me  in  erecting  a  place  of 
Avorship." 

Now  let  us  rest  and  contemplate  for  a  moment 
the  situation.  Here  we  find  a  local  preacher  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  invited  by  the 
pastor  and  presiding  elder  of  St.  George's  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  to  come  to  the  city,  and 
preach  to  his  congregation  at  an  usual  hour  for 
seVvice,  five  A.  M.  He  came;  success  attended 
his  labors.  He  then,  encouraged  by  success,  began 
going  hither  and  thither  to  preach  in  the  city.  He, 
of  course,  found  a  following.  What  effort  of  the 
kind  was  ever  made  that  did  not  find  a  following? 
Does  it  appear  a  repetition  of  the  story  of  Absalom? 
But  let  us  not  stop  now  to  consider  that  phase  of 
it.  In  St.  George's  Church,  though  welcomed,  he 
"found  it  a  cross  to  preach"  there.     Why  was  it 


38  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

a  cross  to  preach  the  gospel  there  ?  Have  we  not 
in  the  above  sentence  a  key  to  the  entire  situation  ? 
Was  it  not  the  eifort  to  avoid  having  to  preach  to 
those  who  had  formed  an  idea  of  Avhat  a  sermon 
should  be  from  the  ministrations  of  the  pulpit  of 
St.  George's  Church  that  brought  about  the  other 
complaints?  Do  not  such  things  grow?  Rev. 
Richard  Allen  had  preached  but  a  short  time  to  his 
"African  brethren"  until  a  necessity  for  a  separate 
Church  arose.  He  says  himself  that  t\\Q  leading 
colored  members  refused  to  go  with  him.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  that  the  above-mentioned  ne- 
cessity would  arise.  AVhy  was  it  that,  as  he  de- 
termined to  form  another  society  and  erect  a 
church,  when  he  presented  the  project  "  to  the  most 
respectable  colored  people  of  Philadelphia,  they 
bitterly  opposed  it?"  Now,  if  it  was  entirely 
regular,  Christ-like,  and  therefore  right,  why  was  it 
that  but  three  colored  men — Absalom  Jones,  Will- 
iam White,  and  Darius  Ginnings — would  unite  in 
that  project?  Rev.  Richard  Allen  says:  "These 
united  with  me  as  soon  as  it  became  public  and 
known  by  the  elder,  who  was  stationed  in  the 
city."  Why  this  secrecy?  Who  were  instigat- 
ing, abetting,  and  encouraging  Richard  Allen  in 
this  move?  Let  us  suppose  it  was  members  of 
another  denomination  in  that  city,  or  some  of  the 
white  members  of  St.  George's  Church.  They 
could  only  have  taken  sides  and  pushed  the  matter, 
because,  (1)  They  opposed  meeting  and  worshiping 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       39 

with  colored  people,  and  could  use  him — Mr. 
Allen — to  help  them;  or,  (2)  They  opposed  the 
pastor  of  St.  George's  Church,  and  wanted  a  com- 
plaint against  him;  or,  (3)  They  believed  the  col- 
ored members  of  St.  George's  Church  were  being 
imposed  upon  by  the  white  members;  or,  (4)  They 
wished  to  germinate  schism  within  St.  George's 
Church.  If  the  colored  members  were  being  im- 
posed upon,  could  Mr.  Allen  not  have  remedied 
the  matter  by  remaining  and  combining  the  strength 
of  the  imposed  upon  with  that  of  the  good  white 
members  of  St.  George,  and  fighting  the  matter 
to  the  end? 

But  Rev.  Richard  Allen  capitulated.  Is  capitu- 
lation on  the  part  of  a  general  attacked  an  exhi- 
bition of  leadership  or  prowess?  General  Sigel, 
in  the  late  war,  became  famous  at  it;  but  only 
among  a  certain  class  of  soldiers.  When  it  is  re- 
membered that  our  African  brethren  were  in  such 
a  fort  as  St.  George's,  the  capitulation  seems  to 
take  on  the  air  of  cowardice.  Instead  of  that 
Church  being  a  monument  and  outgrowth  of  a 
desire  of  our  white  members  to  drive  the  black  ones 
out,  it  is  just  the  opposite — the  outgrowth  of  an 
effort  to  keep  them  within  our  communion.  Mr. 
Allen,  after  reciting  his  action  in  the  premises, 
relates  what  followed.  One  conversant  with  the 
polity  of  our  Church,  after  knowing  what  had  gone 
before,  can  shut  his  eyes  and  tell  what  followed, 
especially  if  the  presiding  elder.  Dr.  Roberts,  and 


40  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

our  pastor,  then  stationed  at  St.  George's  Church, 
knew  and  dared  do  their  duty.  Nothwithstaudiug 
this,  as  strange  as  it  may  appear,  we  hear  from  the 
lips  of  some  ministers  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  that  their  dear  African  brethren, 
members  of  St.  George's  Church,  "were  pulled  off 
their  knees  while  at  prayer  in  the  church,  because 
of  their  color;"  nearly  every  young  minister  enter- 
ing some  of  their  conferences,  ignorant  of  Meth- 
odist history,  gives  the  above  answer  to  the  question, 
why  he  prefers  that  connection  to  all  others.  Of 
course,  the  tyro  knows  nothing  to  the  contrary.  It 
is  known  by  every  one  conversant  with  our  history, 
that  even  after  the  "Allenites,"  as  they  were  called, 
had  gone  out  and  erected  a  building  for  Church 
purposes,  the  presiding  elder  and  pastor  of  St. 
George's  Church  were  willing  to  let  them  go  on 
with  their  separate  worship,  not  exercising,  or  de- 
siring to  exercise,  a  tithe  as  much  authority  over 
them  as  almost  any  one  of  their  own  presiding  elders 
does  over  their  Churches  in  this  country  to-day. 
The  presiding  elder,  having  an  appointment  to 
preach  for  them  one  Sabbath,  was  surprised  to  hear 
them  exclaim  as  he  walked  up  the  aisle  of  their 
church  that  day,  "  Pray,  brethren,  pray  ;  here  comes 
the  devil !"  Such  language  as  that  in  God's  house 
shows  the  animus  that  actuated  that  side  of  this 
question.  With  such  a  spirit  actuating  them,  the 
matter  could  hardly  have  been  settled  otherwise 
than  it  was,  or  they  had  to  remain  under  the  super- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       41 

vision  of  our  Church.  The  question  has  often 
been  asked  if  Richard  Allen  was  in  the  Church  on 
the  occasion  when  that  outcry  was  made.  The 
answer  has  been,  time  and  again,  that  "he  first 
began  the  cry." 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  "Absalom 
Jones"  mentioned  as  having  joined  Richard  Allen 
in  this  movement,  was  a  priest  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  that  Richard  Allen  had 
acquired  considerable  wealth,  more  light  falls  on 
the  dark  background.  Notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  many  thousands  of  colored  members  had  joined 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  were  consid- 
ered in  general  orderly  and  exemplary  members, 
some  of  the  more  intelligent  males  possessing  gifts, 
grace,  and  usefulness,  as  such,  had  been  licensed,  and 
several  ordained  deacons  and  elders,  and  that  the 
colored  members  under  Richard  Allen  had  formed 
an  organization,  having  built  a  respectable  church 
and  were  under  the  oversight  of  one  of  our  white 
presiding  elders,  they  were  restless,  and  chafed  in 
the  harness.  In  April,  1816,  one  month  before  the 
session  of  the  General  Conference  that  met  in  Bal- 
timore, upwards  of  one  thousand  colored  members, 
under  the  leadership  of  Richard  Allen,  had  with- 
drawn from  our  Church.  Why?  A  General  Con- 
ference was  called  immediately  after  the  formation 
of  a  Church  by  Rev.  Richard  Allen,  and  he  was 
elected  their  first  bishop!  The  most  wonderful 
thing  concerning  this  whole  affair  is  the  constant, 

4 


42  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

regular  succession  of  events/  These,  however,  are 
the  straws  iu  the  winds.  It  is,  therefore,  but  little 
distance  to  the  prime  cause  of  that  secession.  Of 
the  42,304  colored  members  remaining  in  the 
Church  during  the  quadrennium,  many  of  them 
were. praying  tliat  the  unpleasant  episode  at  Phil- 
adelphia would  end  there,  and  give  the  Church 
peace.  Notwithstanding  the  trouble  with  the  Allen- 
ites,  as  they  were  called,  the  Church  still  sympa- 
thized with  the  race,  and  the  Committee  on  Slavery 
at  the  General  Conference  gave  no  sound  for  retreat 
from  the  vantage  ground  assumed.  The  whole 
report  read  thus : 

"The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  busi- 
ness of  slavery  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  have 
taken  the  subject  into  serious  consideration,  and, 
after  mature  deliberation,  they  are  of  opinion  that, 
under  the  present  existing  circumstances  in  relation 
to  slavery,  little  can  be  done  to  abolish  a  practice 
so  contrary  to  the  principles  of  moral  justice. 
They  are  sorry  to  say  that  the  evil  appears  to  be  past 
remedy,  and  they  are  led  to  deplore  the  destructive 
consequences  which  have  already  accrued,  and  are 
yet  likely  to  result  therefrom. 

"Your  committee  find  that  in  the  South  and 
West  the  civil  authorities  render  emancipation 
impracticable,  and  notwithstanding  they  are  led  to 
fear  that  some  of  our  members  are  too  easily  con- 
tented with  laws  so  unfriendly  to  freedom,  yet, 
nevertheless,  they  are  constrained  to  admit  that  to 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       43 

bring  about  such  a  change  in  the  civil  code  as 
would  favor  the  cause  of  liberty  is  not  in  the  power 
of  the  General  Conference.  Your  committee  have 
attentively  road  and  seriously  considered  a  memorial 
on  the  above  subject,  presented  from  several  persons 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Baltimore  Annual. Confer- 
ence. They  have  also  made  inquiry  into  the  reg- 
ulations adopted  and  pursued  by  the  d liferent 
annual  conferences  in  relation  to  this  subject,  and 
they  find  that  some  of  them  have  made  no  efficient 
rules  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  thereby  leaving  our 
people  to  act  as  they  please,  while  others  have 
adopted  rules  and  pursued  courses  not  a  little  dif- 
ferent from  each  other,  all  pleading  the  authority 
given  them  by  the  General  Conference,  according 
to  our  present  existing  rule,  as  stated  in  our  form  of 
Discipline.  Your  committee  conclude  that,  in  order 
to  be  consistent  and  uniform,  the  rule  should  be  ex- 
press and  definite,  and,  to  bring  about  this  uniform- 
ity, they  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  resolution  : 
"  Resolved,  by  the  delegates  of  the  annual  con- 
ferences in  General  Conference  assembled,  That 
all  the  recommendatory  part  of  the  second  divis- 
ion, ninth  section,  and  first  answer  of  our  form  of 
Discipline  after  the  word  '  slavery,'  be  stricken  out, 
and  the  following  words  inserted :  '  Therefore,  no 
slaveholder  shall  be  eligible  to  any  official  station 
in  our  Church  hereafter,  where  the  laws  of  the  State 
in  which  he  lives  will  admit  of  emancipation,  and 
and  permit  the  liberated  slave  to  enjoy  freedom.'" 


46  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

soon  a  feeling  began  to  show  itself,  from  some 
cause,  that  it  was  '/degrading  for  them  in  any  way 
to  be  dependent  upon  white  folks  for  the  admin- 
istration of  the  ordinances  and  the  government 
of  the  Church."  ^During  this  year,  as  before,  every 
effort  Avas  made  by  the  Church  to  remove  all  these 
complaints.  Concession  after  concession  was  made, 
but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  removal  of  the  sup- 
posed evil  was  not  the  desideratum  with  the  pro- 
voking cause.  Notwithstanding  they  were  har- 
assed until  they  left  the  Church,  instead  of  uniting 
with  Richard  Allen's  faction,  they  chose  to  estab- 
lish a  Church  of  their  own.  Some  say  they  did  not 
have  full  confidence  in  Rev.  R.  Allen.  In  1819 
they  decided  to  Avithdraw  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  The  fact  that  our  Church  had 
not  recognized  colored  men  as  traveling  preachers 
was  the  complaint  under  which  they  left.  By  this 
secession  we  lost  fourteen  local  preachers,  and  nearly 
one  thousand  members,  including  class  -  leaders, 
exhorters,  and  stewards.  Notwithstanding  many 
strange  stories  originated  with  or  grew  out  of  these 
secessions,  the  Rev.  N.  Bangs,  the  second  Methodist 
historian,  expresses  the  feelings  of  our  Church 
when  he  said:  "We  can  not  do  otherwise  than 
wish  them  all  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Though  formally  separated  from  us 
in  name,  we  still  love  them  as  our  spiritual  chil- 
dren, and  stand  ready  to  aid  them,  as  far  as  we  may, 
in  extending  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  among  men." 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        47 

If  these  secessions  had  occurred  among  those 
who  were  in  bondage,  it  might  have  appeared  less 
strange.  If  those  who  led  them  had  even  professed 
the  belief  that  the  secession  would  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  suffering  millionft  of  the  race  then 
in  bondage  in  the  South,  it  might  have  assumed  the 
role  of  race  pride.  But,  alas!  the  condition  of  the 
poor  slave  in  the  South,  whose  interests  every  Gen- 
eral Conference,  and  the  one  soon  to  meet  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore,  had  carefully  considered  and  did  all 
it  could  to  emancipate  him,  was  not  written  in  their 
bond.  Those  secessions  did  nothing  toward  bettering 
the  Gondition  of  the  slaves  at  the  South.  If  they  did 
anything  touching  human  slavery  then  existing  in 
this  country,  it  was  to  leave  the  suspicion  of  un- 
gratefulness on  the  face  of  every  struggling  slave 
in  the  South.  It  is  but  a  truism  to  say,  it  strength- 
ened the  belief  that  the  race  did  not  thank  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  what  it  was  even 
then  trying  to  do  for  them,  and  yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this,  the  following  was  the  action  of  the  General 
Conference  of  1824-  : 

"Resolved,  1.  That  all  our  preachers  ought  pru- 
dently to  enforce  upon  our  members  the  necessity 
of  teaching  their  slaves  to  read  the  Word  of  God ; 
and  also  that  they  give  them  time  to  hear  the  Word 
of  God  preached  on  our  regular  days  of  divine 
service. 

"  Resolved,  2.  That  our  colored  preachers  and 
official  members  have  all  the  privileges  in  the  dis- 


48  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

trict  and  quarterly-meeting  conferences  which  the 
usages  of  the  country,  in  different  sections,  will  jus- 
tify :  Provided,  also,  that  the  presiding  elder  may, 
when  there  is  a  sufficient  number,  hold  for  them  a 
separate  district  conference. 

'' Resolved,  3.  That  any  of  the  annual  confer- 
ences may  employ  colored  preachers  to  travel  where 
they  judge  their  services  uecessary :  Provided, 
they  be  recommended  according  to  the  form  of  Dis- 
cipline. 

"  Resolved,  4.  That  the  above  resolutions  be 
made  a  part  of  the  section  in  the  Discipline  on 
slavery." 

Since  nothing  aside  from  the  action  already 
taken  by  the  Church  on  this  subject  was  done  until 
the  year  1836,  when  the  General  Conference  met 
for  its  twelfth  session  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Ave  pass 
from  the  General  Conference  of  1824  to  the  General 
Conference  of  1836.  The  agitation  of  this  ques- 
tion went  steadily  on,  however,  and  the  Abolition- 
ists kept  it  warm.  From  Maine  to  Louisiana,  from 
Canada  to  Florida,  it  was  being  agitated.  Since  so 
much  was  said  concerning  the  question  at  that  Gen- 
eral Conference,  some  of  Avhich,  if  not  retrogres- 
sion, was  akin  to  it,  we  give  the  following  resolu- 
tions. In  reading  the  same,  and  judging  them,  we 
must  remember  that  the  seeming  opposition  to 
Abolitionism  was  attributable,  in  a  measure,  to  the 
aversion  to  politics;  that  the  tide  of  agitation  was 
even  then  so  high  that  the  strongest  of  strong  men 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       49 

trembled ;  that  the  Church  had  time  and  again  put 
itself  on  record  as  to  the  question  at  issue.  Though 
it,  for  the  time  being,  condemned  the  action  of  the 
two  "  lecturing  delegates,"  it  never  once  relaxed  its 
grip  upon  the  throat  of  slavery,  nor  assayed  to 
compromise  a  single  principle  of  riglit.  So  far 
removed  from  the  scenes  that  greeted  the  General 
Conference  that  year  in  Cincinnati,  and  remember- 
ing how  thoughtless  some  advocates  of  measures  can 
sometimes  be  or  appear,  and  how  easily  a  zeal  without 
knowledge  can  injure  a  good  cause,  we  do  not  wonder 
at  the  action  taken  in  the  case  of  those  two  brethren. 
But  when  the  enemies  of  human  liberty  construed  the 
condemnation  of  the  action  of  those  two  brethren 
by  the  General  Conference  as  a  weakening  by  the 
Church  on  the  question  of  slavery,  the  ensuing  Gen- 
eral Conference  disabused  their  minds  of  their  error, 
and  sent  the  enemies  of  liberty  to  grass  again. 

The  folloAving  are  the  resolutions  above  referred 
to,  enacted  by  the  General  Conference  of  1836 : 

"Whereas,  Great  excitement  has  prevailed  in 
this  country  on  the  subject  of  modern  Abolition- 
ism, which  is  reported  to  have  been  increased  in  this 
city  recently  by  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of  two 
members  of  the  General  Conference  in  lecturing 
upon  and  in  favor  of  that  agitating  topic;  and 
WHEREAS,  such  a  course  on  the  part  of  any  of  its 
members  is  calculated  to  bring  upon  this  body  the 
suspicions  and  distrust  of  the  community,  and  mis- 
represent its  sentiments  in  regard   to  the  point  at 

5 


60  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

issue;  aud  whereas,  in  this  aspect  of  the  ease,  a 
due  regard  for  its  own  character,  as  well  as  a  just 
concern  for  the  interests  of  the  Church  confided  to 
its  care,  demand  a  full,  decided,  and  unequivocal 
expression  of  the  views  of  the  General  Conference 
in  the  premises;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  by  the  delegates  of  the  annual  con- 
ferences, in  General  Conference  assembled.  That 
they  disapprove,  in  the  most  unqualified  sense,  the 
conduct  of  two  members  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence, who  are  reported  to  have  lectured  in  this  city, 
recently,  upon  and  in  favor  of  modern  Abolitionism. 

"  2.  That  they  are  decidedly  opposed  to  modern 
Abolitionism,  and  wholly  disclaim  any  right,  wish, 
or  intention  to  interfere  in  the  civil  and  political 
relation  between  master  and  slave,  as  it  exists  in  the 
slaveholding  States  of  this  Union. 

"  3.  That  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions 
be  published  in  our  periodicals." 

The  report  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  is  here 
given  also,  touching  this  question  at  another  point: 

"  The  Judiciary  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred 
the  petition  of  the  official  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  on  Lancaster  Circuit,  Bal- 
timore Conference,  report,  that  the  petition  referred 
to  them  is  an  able  document,  drawn  up  in  the  most 
respectful  language,  and  signed  by  twenty-nine 
individuals,  who  claimed  to  be  official  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  Lancaster 
Circuit. 


THE  METUODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       51 

"The  petitioners  first  invite  the  attention  of  the 
General  Conference  to  the  section  of  the  Discipline 
which  states  that  *  no  slaveholder  shall  be  eligible 
to  any  official  station  in  our  Church  hereafter, 
when  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he  lives  will  • 
admit  of  emancipation,  and  permit  the  liberated 
slave  to  enjoy  freedom,'  etc.  They  then  produce  an 
extract  of  the  laws  from  the  commonwealth  of  Vir- 
ginia, showing  their  extreme  rigor  in  this  matter, 
'That  any  emancipated  slave  (with  exceptions  too 
rare  to  be  looked  for  in  one  case  out  of  many)  re- 
maining in  the  commonwealth  more  than  twelve 
months  after  his  or  her  right  to  freedom  shall  have 
arrived,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall 
be  sold  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  in  any  county 
in  which  he  or  she  may  be  found,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  literary  fund.'  In  view  of  this  act  they 
claim  that  they,  as  official  members,  are  protected 
by  the  Discipline  of  the  Church,  as  they  deem  it  to 
be  precisely  one  of  the  exceptions  to  the  General 
Rule  provided  for  in  the  Discipline ;  and  especially 
as  under  the  existing  laws  of  the  commonwealth  to 
emancipate  their  slaves  would,  in  many  cases,  be 
an  act  of  cruelty  to  the  slaves  themselves.  The 
matter  of  complaint  by  the  petitioners  is,  that  the 
construction  put  upon  this  rule  by  the  Baltimore 
Annual  Conference,  in  certain  acts  respecting  indi- 
viduals connected  with  this  section  of  the  work, 
is  subversive  of  their  rights  and  oppressive  in  its 
bearings;  that  they  require  the  same  submission  to 


52  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

the  rule  of  persons  in  that  State  as  of  those  in 
sections  where  the  legal  disability  to  comply  with 
it  does  not  exist,  regardless  of  the  exceptions.  And 
they  respectfully  solicit  the  interference  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  either  to  revise  the  rule,  or  give 
it  such  construction  as  to  aiford  them  relief  in  the 
premises;  or,  finally,  if  neither  be  done,  to  cause 
them  to  be  set  off  to  the  Virginia  Conference. 

"  It  is  due  to  the  Baltimore  Conference  to  say 
that  the  cases  referred  to  as  evidence  of  their  im- 
proper application  of  their  rule,  are  stated  in  terms 
too  vague  and  indefinite  to  authorize  the  inference 
drawn  by  the  petitioners.  It  is  represented  that  a 
young  man  applying  to  be  received  jnto  the  itin- 
erancy is  prevented  by  application  of  this  rule;  that 
it  is  in  vain  for  him  to  urge  upon  a  majority  of  the 
conference  the  impracticability  of  his  complying 
with  the  rule,  in  consequence  of  the  laws  under 
which  he  lives,  or  any  other  consideration  in  favor 
of  his  being  received;  because  he  will  not  comply 
with  the  rule,  he  must  be  rejected.  The  same,  it  is 
assumed  by  the  petitioners,  is  done  with  respect  to 
those  who  apply  for  ordination.  And  it  is  inferred 
by  them,  that  if  the  conference  act  consistently, 
stewards  and  leaders  may  be  expected  soon  to  be 
called  upon  to  comply  with  the  rule,  or  forfeit  their 
official  standing  in  the  Church. 

"Your  committee  view  this  subject  in  a  very 
different  light.  In  admitting  a  preacher  to  travel, 
or  electing  one  to  orders,  a  conference  must  have 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        53 

the  right  to  act  freely ;  and  in  cases  which  are  not 
successful,  it  is  wholly  an  assumption,  on  the  part 
of  the  applicants  or  their  friends,  to  say  what  par- 
ticular considerations  dictated  the  vote,  unless  such 
considerations  be  distinctly  avowed  by  a  majority 
of  the  conference.  And  it  is  known  to  all  con- 
versant with  the  transactions  of  an  annual  confer- 
ence, that  no  person  applying  to  be  received  or  or- 
dained ever  enters  as  a  party  before  the  conference, 
pleading  his  own  cause,  and  hearing  and  answering 
the  objections  which  may  be  urged  against  his 
application.  Any  act  of  conference,  then,  in  these 
eases,  can  not  be  justly  urged  as  evidence  that  the 
conference  denies  the  party  concerned  the  benefit 
of  the  special  provision  in  the  rule.  A  conference 
or  other  deliberative  bodies  possess,  and  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  must  possess,  the  right  to  deter- 
mine its  own  course,  and  vote  freely  in  all  such 
individual  cases.  Your  committee,  therefore,  can 
noi;  see  that  the  privileges  claimed  by  the  peti- 
tioners have  been  contravened  by  an  act  of  the 
Baltimore  Conference. 

"Having  said  this  much  respecting  the  alleged 
grounds  of  grievance,  your  committee  agree  in  the 
opinion  that  the  exceptions  to  the  General  Rule  in 
the  Discipline,  referred  to  by  the  petitioners,  clearly 
apply  to  official  members  of  the  Church  in  Virginia, 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  commonwealth,  and  do 
therefore  protect  them  against  a  forfeiture  of  their 
official  standing  on  account  of  said  rule.     In  addi- 


54  TEE  COLORED  MAN. 

tion  to  the  petition  of  the  official  members  of  Lan- 
caster Circuit,  a  resolution  of  a  quarterly  conference 
of  Westmoreland  Circuit  has  been  referred  to  your 
committee,  by  which  it  appears  that  the  members  of 
said  conference  concurred  in  said  petition.  Should 
the  General  Conference  agree  in  the  opinions  stated 
by  the  committee  in  the  report,  it  is  respectfully 
recommended  that,  after  adopting  it,  they  cause  a 
copy  of  it  to  be  forwarded  to  the  official  members 
in  each  of  the  above-named  circuits.  All  of  which 
is  respectfully  submitted. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  sundry 
memorials  from  the  North,  praying  that  certain 
rules  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  which  formerly  ex- 
isted in  our  book  of  Discipline,  should  be  restored, 
and  that  the  General  Conference  take  such  measures 
as  they  may  deem  proper  to  free  the  Church  from 
the  evil  of  slavery,  beg  leave  to  report : 

"That  they  have  had  the  subject  under  serious 
consideration,  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  ])rayers  of 
the  memorialists  can  not  be  granted,  believing  that  it 
would  be  highly  improper  for  the  General  Conference 
to  take  any  action  that  would  alter  or  change  our  rules 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  Your  committee,  there- 
fore, respectfully  submit  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  etc.,  That'it  is  inexpedient  to  make  any 
change  in  our  book  of  Discipline  respecting  slavery ; 
and  that  we  deem  it  improper  further  to  agitate  the 
subject  in  the  General  Conference  at  present. 

"  All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted." 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        55 

The  pastoral  address  presented  to  and  ac- 
cepted by  that  General  Conference,  at  once  puts 
forever  at  rest  any  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  any 
disposition  of  the  Church  to  compromise  with 
slavery.  We  quote  the  closing  part  touching  this 
question,  viz : 

"It  can  not  be  unknown  to  you  that  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery  in  these  United  States,  by  the  consti- 
tutional compact  which  binds  us  together  as  a  nation, 
is  left  to  be  regulated  by  the  several  State  Legis- 
latures themselves,  and  thereby  is  put  beyond  the 
control  of  the  General  Government,  as  well  as  that 
of  all  ecclesiastical  bodies;  it  being  manifest  that 
in  the  slaveholding  States  themselves  the  entire 
responsibility  of  its  existence  or  non-existence  rests 
with  those  State  Legislatures.  And  such  is  the 
aspect  of  affairs  in  reference  to  this  question,  tliat 
whatever  else  might  tend  to  ameliorate  tlie  condition 
of  the  slave,  it  is  evident  to  us,  from  what  wc  have 
witnessed  of  Abolition  movements,  that  these  are 
the  least  likely  to  do  him  good.  On  the  contrary, 
we  have  it  in  evidence  before  us  that  the  inflam- 
matory speeches  and  writings  and  movements  have 
tended,  in  many  instances,  injuriously  to  affect  his 
temporal  and  spiritual  condition  by  hedging  up  the 
way  of  the  missionary  who  is  sent  to  preach  to  him 
Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  and  by  making  a  "more 
rigid  supervision  necessary  on  the  part  of  his  over- 
seer, thereby  abridging  his  civil  and  religious 
liberties." 


56  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

General  Conference  of  1840. — Test  cases 
touching  slavery  were  continually  arising.  That 
of  Silas  Comfort  was  among  the  most  noted.  No 
one  will,  for  a  moment,  deny  that  this  noted  case 
was  as  complicated  as  noted,  and  was,  we  believe, 
on  the  whole  as  we  now  see  it,  settled  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  Church  and  the  colored  race.  The 
decision  was  not  what  could  have  been  expected  ; 
but,  then,  "  discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor." 
There  were,  of  course,  two  sides — two  separate  and 
distinct  parties  concerned.  While  the  interests 
of  a  class  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
were  at  stake,  the  unity  and  tranquillity  of  the 
Church  were  on  the  altar.  The  action  of  Rev.  Silas 
Comfort  was  an  entering  wedge  between  the  two 
parties  within  the  Church.  Many  earnest,  honest 
men  thought  it  a  strange  procedure  when  that  Gen- 
eral Conference  declared  it  "inexpedient  and  unjus- 
tifiable for  any  preacher  among  us  to  permit  colored 
persons  to  give  testimony  against  white  persons  in 
any  State  where  they  are  denied  that  privilege  in 
trials  at  law."  This  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  74 
to  46.  Twenty-two  members  of  that  General  Con- 
ference did  not  vote  at  all.  Whether  the  spirit 
that  gave  birth  to  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church 
three  years  afterward  kept  them  from  voting,  is 
not  recorded.  Whether  that  decision  hastened  the 
organization  of  the  above-mentioned  Church  or  not, 
many  believe  it  did.  The  decision,  since  in  it  the 
word  "denied"  appears,  was  probably  the  best  the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH       57 

General  Conference  thought  it  could  do  under 
existing  circumstances,  coupled  with  the  restric- 
tion to  those  "States  where  they  are  denied  that 
privilege  in  trials  at  law."  The  reason  for  render- 
ing such  a  decision  probably  rested  upon  the  fact 
that  otherwise  it  might  have  led  to  internal  wran- 
glings  in  the  general  Cliurch,  and  imposed  addi- 
tional hardships  upon  the  colored  man,  in  that 
masters  would  probably  have  felt  it  incumbent  upon 
themselves  to  prohibit  any  slave  from  enjoying  the 
benefits  derivable  from  membership  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  thus  added  injury  to 
insult,  and  left  them  a  prey  to  "the  false  accuser 
of  the  brethren."  Notwithstanding  the  construction 
others  put  upon  that  decision,  or  what  we  now  think 
of  it,  the  colored  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  were  not  well  pleased,  as  a  protest 
from  Sharp  Street  Church  declares.  The  author  of 
"The  Anti-slavery  Struggle  and  Triumph  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Clyirch,"  at  page  148,  says: 
"At  the  General  Conference  of  1840  a  memorial 
was  ])repared  by  forty  official  members  of  Sharp 
Street  and  Asbury  Churches,  in  Baltimore,  protest- 
ing against  the  colored-testimony  resolution.  It  was 
put  in  the  hands  of  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Sargent,  and 
by  him  given  to  one  of  the  bishops.  Through  the 
eflPorts  of  Dr.  Bond  and  others  the  memorialists 
were  pacified  without  the  conference  knowing  any- 
thing of  the  document."  The  Rev.  Dr.  Elliott 
declared  that  "the  colored  members  of  the  Church 


58  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

were  greatly  afflicted.  This  matter  had  like  to 
have  done  great  mischief."  The  document  was 
afterward  published.  Among  other  things  equally 
pungent,  the  memorialists  said : 

"  We  have  learned  with  profound  regret  and 
unutterable  emotion  of  the  resolution  adopted  May 
18th,  which  has  inflicted,  we  fear,  an  irreparable 
injury  upon  eighty  thousand  souls  for  whom  Christ 
died ;  souls  which,  by  this  act  of  your  venerable 
body,  have  been  stripped  of  the  dignity  of  Chris- 
tians, degraded  in  the  scale  of  humanity,  and  treated 
as  criminals,  for  no  other  reason  than  the  color  of 
their  skin.  The  adoption  of  this  soul-sickening 
resolution  has  destroyed  the  peace  and  alienated  the 
affections  of  twenty -five  hundred  members  of  the 
Church  in  this  city,  who  now  feel  that  they  are  but 
spiritual  orphans  or  scattered  sheep.  The  deed  you 
have  done  could  not  have  originated  in  that  love 
which  works  no  ill  to  his  neighbor,  but  in  a  disjw- 
sition  to  propitiate  that  spirit  which  is  not  to  be 
appeased,  except  through  concessions  derogatory  to 
the  dignity  of  our  holy  religion !  And,  therefore, 
they  protest  against  it,  and  conjure  you  to  wipe 
from  the  journal  the  odious  resolution." 

This  was  strong  language,  prompted  by  a  stronger 
feeling. 

The  members  of  Sharp  Street  Church  did  not 
protest  against  the  decision  of  the  Church  in  this 
case,  because  they  doubted  the  expressed  fidelity 
made  prior  to  this,  that  was  self-evident.     But  they 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        59 

knew  that  times  change  and  men  change  with  them. 
This  to  them  looked  like  a  compromise  with  the 
spirit  of  slavery  that  stalked  abroad  in  the  land. 
That  decision,  viewed  from  this  distance  to-day, 
to  some,  assumes  a  different  aspect  altogether. 
How  could  they  keep  from  protesting?  What 
could  they  do  more,  how  dare  do  less?  How  did 
they  curb  their  feelings  enough  to  express  their 
thoughts  in  such  mild  language  ?  Why  should  not 
those  burden-bound  colored  men  and  women  pro- 
test against,  while  compelled  to  submit  to,  a  decision 
that  to  them  was  humiliating  in  the  extreme?  Shall 
the  crawling,  loathsome  worm  of  the  dust  bo 
allowed  to  squirm  when  trod  upon,  the  venomous 
snake  to  hiss,  the  vicious  beast  to  defend  himself, 
and-  then  deny  the  right  to  protest?  Could  the 
Church  of  God  deny  them  the  privilege  of  excul- 
pating themselves  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  from 
what  to  them  appeared  an  undeserved  reproach, 
thrown  upon  them  because  of  their  color  or  help- 
less condition,  casting  thereby  away  from  them  the 
protection  of  all  save  that  of  God  ?  As  they  prob- 
ably thought,  why  thus  insult  them?  Aye;  rather 
why  insult  justice  and  God  by  demanding  of  them  a 
reason  for  protesting,  since  it  appeared  to  them  that 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — the  Church,  and 
only  Church,  that  from  the  beginning  had  stood 
manfully  in  their  defense — by  that  decision  "had 
failed  to  manifest  the  spirit  that  worketh  no  ill  to 
its  neighbor?"     Whatever  the   protestants   in  this 


60  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

instance  may  have  thought  or  said,  viewed  at  that 
time  from  the  ignis  fatuus  of  the  then  existing 
African  Churches  in  the  North,  "  it  was  calculated 
to  drive  out  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
every  intelligent  and  manly  colored  man,"  into  one 
or  the  other  of  these  Churches.  Viewed,  however, 
under  the  light  of  the  Address  of  our  bishops  at 
that  time,  it  assumes  a  more  rational  and  philosoph- 
ical aspect.  The  bishops  said  :  "  We  can  not  with- 
hold from  you  at  this  eventful  period  the  solemn 
conviction  of  our  minds,  that  no  ecclesiastical  legis- 
lation on  the  subject  of  slavery  at  this  time  will 
have  a  tendency  to  accomplish  these  most  desirable 
objects,  to  wit :  Preserve  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
whole  body,  promote  the  greatest  happiness  of  the 
slave  population,  and  advance  generally  in  the 
slaveholding  community  of  our  country  the  humane 
and  hallowing  influence  of  our  holy  religion."  By 
this  we  judge  that  at  that  time  the  Church  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  impossible  by 
"ecclesiastical  legislation"  to  benefit  in  any  way 
the  colored  man  ;  that  extra  legislation  on  the  ques- 
tion would  be  not  only  supererogatory,  but  in  all 
probability  only  beneficial  in  goading  the  slave- 
holder. We  infer  (1)  that  civil  legislation  touching 
slavery  was  not  objected  to ;  but  that  (2)  the  objec- 
tion to  the  admission  of  colored  testimony  had  been 
raised  by  the  civil  courts,  and  it  was  not  considered 
being  "  subject  to  the  powers  that  be "  to  demur ; 
at  least,  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Church  "to 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        61 

live  in  peace  with  all  men"  as  much  as  possible. 
We  are  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  there  have 
been,  and  will  yet  be,  times  when  forbearance 
ceases  to  be  a  virtue,  and  when  the  Church  of  God 
can  not  afford  to  be  loyal  "  to  the  powers  that  be." 
But  what  could  be  accomplished  by  the  opposi- 
tion of  one  Church  to  the  slave  oligarchy  that 
was  then  rife  in  this  country?  As  to  this  we  can 
only  say : 

"Deep  in  unfathomable  mines  > 

Of  never-failing  skill, 
God  treasures  up  his  bright  designs, 
And  works  his  sovereign  will." 

As  we  now  see  it,  there  was  no  use  for  Method- 
ism to  push  slavery  harder  at  that  time,  since  God 
was  behind  the  movement.  Long  before  this  time 
the  bishops  and  other  far-seeing  and  right-minded 
men  saw  that  all  the  speeches  made  and  actions 
taken  pro  and  con  relating  to  slavery,  by  the 
Church,  would,  without  the  interposition  of  God, 
culminate  in  splitting  the  Church.  This  in  itself 
gave  promise  of  what  actually  grew  out  of  it — a  long, 
bitter,  but  bloodless  ecclesiastical  war  between  the 
two  factions.  Seeing  signs  of  an  approaching  crisis, 
they  were  anxious  to  avert  it  as  long  as  possible, 
and  at  the  same  time  prayed  to  God,  "  Thy  will  be 
done,  and  not  mine ;"  that  when  the  on-sweeping  tidal 
wave,  even  then  within  the  bounds  of  the  Church, 
in  opposition  to  holding  slaves,  did  come,  that,  so  far 
as  those   who   were  leading   in   opposition   to   the 


62  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

accursed  traffic  were  concerned,  their  consciences 
might  be  clear,  and  that  if  the  separation  came  in 
their  life-time,  their  side  should  bear  the  marks  of 
God's  approbation. 

Without  multiplying  evidence  going  to  show  the 
interest  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  took  in 
the  colored  man  from  its  origin  to  the  time  at 
which  we  have  arrived,  we  wish  now  to  note  the 
result  of  the  unwillingness  of  the  Church  to  com- 
promise with  slavery.  We  have  seen  that  in  every 
case  where  it  was  possible  to  make  concessions  to 
the  colored  man,  to  train,  protect,  and  elevate  him, 
the  Church  has  done  it  where  it  was  proper  and 
best  for  him.  It  has  in  every  case,  as  far  as  practi- 
cable, tried  to  remedy  the  wrongs  perpetrated  upon 
him  as  well  as  lessen  his  burdens.  Not,  of  course, 
always  as  the  colored  man  thought  it  ought  to  have 
been  done — for  he  was  not  in  condition  to  even 
judge  what  was  best  for  him — nor  yet  as  some 
who  appeared  more  radical  would  have  had  it  done ; 
but  the  Church  stood  by  and  for  the  colored  man  as 
no  other  denomination  occupying  the  same  territory 
and  similar  circumstances  would  do.  To  know 
what  was  contemplated  by  the  Church  in  this  case 
we  have  but  to  trace  out  the  legitimate  results. 
During  the  interregnum  from  1836  to  1844  "God 
moved  in  a  mysterious  way  his  wonders  to 
perform."  The  question  of  the  abolition  of  Ameri- 
can slavery  was  discussed  at  each  General  Confer- 
ence    with     animation     and     seriousness.      Many 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        63 

declared  the  radical  action  taken  by  the  Church  on 
the  question  would  eventually  rend  the  Church  in 
twain.  Many  earnest  prayers  ascended  to  the  throne 
of  God  in  behalf  of  the  tranquillity  of  the  Church, 
but  were  not  answered  because  "his  brother"  was 
in .  need ;  and  those  prayers,  if  answered,  would  not 
only  have  riveted  his  shackles,  but  bathed  his 
face  in  tears,  and  consigned  the  poor  colored  man 
and  his  posterity,  not  to  perpetual  banishment — 
that  would  have  been  tolerable — but  to  a  slavery 
worse  than  that  of  the  Russian  serf.  As  many 
more  prayed  that  the  prediction  as  to  the  split  in 
the  Church  might  come  to  pass.  As  a  result,  each 
succeeding  General  Conference  was  marked  by  the 
friends  of  slavery  as  the  beginning  of  the  end  of 
a  united  Methodism  in  America. 


64  THE  COLORED  MAN. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  CRISIS— ITS  CAUSE. 

THE  General  Conference  of  1844  sat  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  from  May  1st  until  June  10th— 
forty-five  days.  It  has  gone  down  into  history  as 
the  most  noted  «f  any  General  Conference  of  the 
Church.  There  was  at  stake  the  peace,  unity,  and 
strength  of  Methodism  in  this  country.  The  ques- 
tion most  prominent,  and  that  was  calculated  to 
stir  up  most  enthusiasm,  was  that  of  the  abolition 
of  American  slavery.  An  unprecedented,  as  well  as 
strange  case,  came  up  for  consideration.  Rev.  James 
Osgood  Andrew,  one  of  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  who  was  elected  at  the  General 
Conference  of  1832,  a  few  months  before  the  ses- 
sion of  the  General  Conference  of  1844  had  married 
an  estimable  lady  of  the  best  families  of  Georgia, 
who  was  the  owner  of  slaves.  This  act  on  the  part 
of  the  bishop,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  caused 
much  excitement  and  more  comment.  This  was  a 
trying  attitude  for  the  Church.  There  had  arisen 
within  a  party  in  the  North  that  accused  it  of  being 
pro-slavery  in  sentiment — at  least  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent. Notwithstanding  it  hitherto  had  occupied 
such   strong   positions  on   the  question  of  human 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        65 

slavery,  the  above  sentiment  arose  to  such  a  height 
in  1842  as  to  cause  a  secession,  and  the  formation 
of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church.  It  did,  there- 
fore, seem  strange  that  such  a  thing  had  happened. 
But  now  it  appeared  as  if  the  crisis  had  been 
reached.  Just  what  action  that  General  Confereucc 
could  or  would  take  now  on  the  question  of  slavery  in 
general,  and  the  bishop's  case  in  particular,  was  hard 
to  imagine.  The  natural  supposition  with  the  Aboli- 
tionists was  that  the  same  vituperation  and  obloquy 
would  be  manifested  against  slavery  as  of  yore  ;  that 
the  rules  relating  to  slavery  would  be  adhered  to,  even 
where  it  involved  a  popular  bishop  of  that  Church. 
It  was  a  trying  situation.  Others  declared  it  im- 
practicable and  irrational  for  the  great  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  to  interfere  with  the  }>ersonal 
rights  of  the  bishop  by  declaring  that  he  was  in 
the  wrong,  when  he  did  not  claim  the  slaves  as  his 
property.  Some  declared  the  Church  would  now 
back  down,  and  thus  verify  the  allegations  of  the 
Wesleyan  brethren.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  con- 
fidence the  Church  had  in  the  bishop,  and  in  many 
others  who  professed  to  believe  slavery  right,  they 
could  easily  have  concluded  that  a  trap  had  been  set 
to  catch  the  General  Conference,  because  the  bishop 
was  not  the  only  one  involved.  A  member  of  the 
Baltimore  Annual  Conference  had  also,  by  marriage, 
become  a  slaveholder  and  refused  to  manumit 
his  slaves.  In  the  State  of  Maryland  emancipa- 
tion was  possible.     After  the  Baltimore  Conference 

6 


66  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

had  carefully  considered  his  case,  he  was  suspended 
from  the  ministry  of  the  Church.  He  appealed 
from  the  decision  of  his  conference  to  the  ensuing 
General  Conference.  When  the  case  came  up  on  the 
appeal,  the  decision  of  the  lower  court  was  sustained 
by  a  large  majority.  In  the  meantime  the  Com- 
mittee on  Episcopacy  waited  upon  Bishop  Andrew. 
He  informed  the  committee  that  he  had  married  a 
wife  who  inherited  slaves  from  her  former  husband ; 
that  her  husband  had  secured  them  to  her  by  a 
deed  of  trust;  and  that  she  could  not  emancipate 
them  if  she  desired  to  do  so.  The  committee, 
however,  aware  of  the  fact  that  it  was  possible  for 
the  bishop  to  remove  from  the  State  of  Georgia 
where  emancipation  was  not  possible,  to  a  State 
where  it  was  possible,  took  the  case  under  con- 
sideration. 

Here  were  two  factions — one  in  favor  of  stand- 
ing up  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  supported  by 
thousands  of  influential  Northern  and  Eastern  men 
and  money;  the  other,  supported  by  not  less  than 
fifty  thousand  members,  institutions  of  learning,  and 
the  slaveholding  States  and  slaveholding  sympa- 
thizers from  the  Atlantic  to  the  great  West,  from 
the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  and  every  slaveholding  country 
in  the  entire  world.  Speeches,  noting  these  facts, 
and  declaring  a  bitter  unwillingness  to  crouch  be- 
fore the  spirit  of  freedom,  manifested  by  that  part 
of  the  Church  which  opposed  the  holding  of  slaves, 
began  to  make  a  breach  in  the  Church  that  eternity 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        67 

alone,  we  fear,  can  only  close.  The  Board  of 
Bishops  were  divided  on  the  question.  From  North 
to  South,  from  East  to  West,  the  Church  of  God 
was  disturbed.  Not  only  this,  but  the  world  knew 
that  if  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  split  then 
and  there  on  that  question,  and  any  respectable  por- 
tion opposed  slavery,  it  would  be  the  beginning  of 
the  end  of  slavery  on  American  soil.  Therefore,  even 
the  political  and  mercantile  worlds  were  anxiously 
waiting,  as  well  as  earnestly  working,  either  to 
reconcile  the  affair  or  compromise  it.  Any  way  in 
the  world  not  to  divide  on  that  question  at  that 
time.  God  only  knows  how  many  colored  people  in 
this  country  sent  up  prayers  from  the  rice-swamps 
of  the  Carolinas,  the  cotton-fields  of  Mississippi, 
and  the  cane-brakes  of  Louisiana,  that  "the  God" 
of  Elijah,  who  answered  prayer  by  fire,"  would  bow 
the  gentle  heavens  and  visit  New  York  City  with 
a  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  that  General 
Conference — the  men  of  God  therein — might  have 
victory  in  favor  of  the  Church,  suifering  humanity, 
and  God.  If  there  was  ever  any  time  at  which 
more  prayers  besieged  the  throne  of  grace  than 
another,  it  surely  must  have  been  during  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  1844.  It  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  the  eyes 
and  ears  of  the  world  were  turned  toward  that 
General  Conference.  And  why  not?  Were  not 
even  then  the  interests  of  every  Methodist  in  the 
known   world,  of  every  colored  man,  woman,  and 


68  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

child,  and  children  of  the  race  then  in  the  womb 
of  the  future — aye,  the  future  destiny  of  him  who 
pens  these  lines,  with  that  of  our  holy  Christian 
religion  at  stake?     Most  assuredly  it  was  so. 

Some  declared  that  Bishop  Andrew  would  have 
willingly  yielded  to  the  opinions  of  the  General 
Conference  had  not  his  brethren  in  the  slavehold- 
ing  States  and  others  persuaded  him  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  stand  by  them  on  this  question,  involving 
their  personal  rights.  While  we  do  not  stop  to 
express  a  doubt  as  to  Avhether,  indeed,  this  was  up- 
permost in  his  mind,  we  are  glad  to  note  that,  not- 
withstanding the  interests  at  stake,  and  that  the 
Church  at  that  time  could  have  saved  itself  much 
trouble,  filled  its  coffers  with  "golden  ducats," 
increased  its  popularity,  and  the  sound  of  its  ap- 
plause would  have  resounded  on  earth  from  sea  to 
sea  and  from  shore  to  shore,  after  a  protracted 
discussion,  that  General  Conference,  by  a  vote  of 
no  to  68, 

''Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  General 
Conference  that  he  [Bishop  Andrew]  desist  from 
the  exercise  of  his  office  so  long  as  this  impediment 
remains." 

At  this  action  the  Southern  conferences  felt 
deeply  aggrieved.  A  clap  of  thunder  from  a  clear 
sky  could  not  have  spread  greater  consternation 
and  excited  more  feeling  than  did  this  action. 
Like  wildfire  the  news  began  to  spread.  So  far  as 
the  United  States   mails  could  carry  it,  the   news 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH        69 

was  spread  before  a  fortnight.  What  was  to  be  the 
outcome  but  few  hesitated  to  say.  What  could  it  be 
but  that  which  had  been  repeatedly  predicted,  the 
separation  of  the  Southern  conferences  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ? 

At  once  meetings  were  called  by  the  South- 
ern delegates,  and  steps  were  taken  looking  to 
the  organization  of  a  Church  in  the  South.  The 
following  year  the  organization  was  accomplished, 
showing  that  the  matter  had  been  thoroughly  can- 
vassed, and  a  conclusion  reached  by  the  slavehold- 
ing  element  that  was  not  to  be  surrendered.  Is 
he  a  philosopher  who  sees  in  this  a  counterpart  to 
the  drama  of  Pharaoh  and  the  Hebrews?  Is  it 
not  possible  to  trace  the  finger-marks  of  Providence 
all  along  the  pages  of  every  resolution  offered  by 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  this  question 
from  1796  to  date?  Does  not  it  appear  in  all  this 
that  our  God, 

"  Deep  in  unfathomable  mines 
Of  never-failing  skill, 
Treasures  up  his  bright  designs 
And  works  his  sovereign  will  ?" 

The  chief  part  of  the  membership  in  the  entire 
slaveholding  territory,  with  the  exception  of  the 
States  of  Maryland  and  Delaware,  separated  and 
formed  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
The  grand  old  Methodist  Church,  by  adhering  to 
her  anti-slavery  principles  in  this  particular  case, 
lost  nearly   five   hundred    thousand    members,  the 


70  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

control  of  much  Church  property,  and  many  insti- 
tutions of  learning;  incurring  thereby  the  ill-will, 
everywhere,  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  who 
was  pro-slavery  in  theory  or  practice.  But  what 
effect  had  this  action  of  the  Church  on  the  minds  of 
the  colored  people  ?  Did  they  really  believe  it  meant 
what  the  pro-slavery  element  declared  it  meant, 
that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  an  in- 
veterate enemy  to  what  Wesley  called  "  the  sum  of 
all  villainies?"  Any  one  who  doubts  the  fact  that 
the  colored  man  everywhere,  who  was  capable  of 
properly  appreciating  philanthropy,  appreciated  the 
situation,  has  but  to  note  the  fact  that,  compara- 
tively, the  States  of  Maryland,  Delaware,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  and  South  Carolina,  so  far  as  Method- 
ism among  our  people  is  concerned,  belong  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  some  of  the  most  in- 
telligent colored  men  of  the  Church  are  there. 
The  saying,  "  It  is  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody 
good,"  was  verified  in  this  instance.  The  colored 
membership  within  the  Church  renewed  its  resolu- 
tions, redoubled  its  diligence,  and  had  its  faith 
strengthened  in  the  integrity  of  Methodism.  They 
recognized  in  the  Church  a  mother  whose  tender 
solicitude  and  maternal  care  w^ere  not  based  upon 
anticipated  future  benefits  derivable  from  the  col- 
ored membership,  but,  commensurate  with  their 
integrity  and  Christianity,  she  expected  to  help 
them ;  that  she  was  a  mother  who  not  only  labored 
to  have  them  "flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  but  to 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        71 

save  them,  as  well,  from  the  rigorous  burdens  of 
the  unrequited  toil  of  slavery;  that  she  was  a 
mother  who  loved  them  for  Jesus'  sake,  and  stood 
by  them  when  it  was  neither  profitable  nor  pleasant 
to  do  so.  A  new  inspiration  seems  to  have  come 
to  the  entire  Church.  But  was  not  that  to  have 
been  expected  as  a  matter  of  course,  under  the 
command  with  promise,  "Bring  ye  all  the  tithes 
into  the  storehouse,  and  prove  me  herewith,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows 
of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there 
shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it.  And 
all  nations  shall  call  you  blessed."  Had  not  the 
Church  planted  itself  upon  the  Ten  Command- 
ments— the  rock  of  ages ;  and  was  there  not  to  be 
seen  everywhere  the  bright,  shining  light  from  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  athwart  the  path  of  the 
Church  in  its  onward  march  in  favor  of  the  recog- 
nition among  all  men,  of  whatever  complexion,  of 
the  wholesome  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  common 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man? 
As  a  result,  that  part  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  that  believed  it  better  to  obey  God  than 
man,  to  be  unpopular  and  sneered  at,  but  right;  that 
"  bore  unmoved  the  world's  dread  frown,  nor  heeded 
its  scornful  smile,"  received  a  new  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  continued  receiving  it  until  a  new 
door  teas  opened  nnto  the  Church. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  nearly  five  hun- 
dred thousand  members  left  the  Church  on  account 


72  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  the  decision  on  slavery,  by  no  means  all  left  who 
wished  the  colored  man  would  leav'c  or  be  forced 
out  of  the  Church  into  one  of  the  two  colored 
organizations.  It  may  as  well  be  said  now,  that 
there  has  always  been  a  faction  within  and  without 
the  Church  that  has  used,  or  attempted  to  use,  the 
colored  man  in  opposition  to  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  In  the  first  place,  they  use  him  as  a 
wedge.  When  they  are  foiled  in  an  attempt  to 
carry  any  certain  thing,  they  at  once  declare  that 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  been,  and  is 
now,  taking  advantage  of  the  poor  colored  man. 
If  this  does  not  answer,  they  find  it  convenient  to 
let  him  (the  colored  man)  understand  that  he  is  an 
intruder  in  the  Church,  and  respect  for  his  man- 
hood demands  that  he  go  out  and  "paddle  his  own 
canoe ;"  that  white  men  will  think  more  of  him  if 
he  exhibit  "the  self-reliance  and  ability  displayed 
by  those  members  who  are  in  separate  Churches  to 
themselves."  When  this  proved  abortive,  they 
found  it  convenient  to  demonstrate  it.  They  at 
once  invited  some  minister  of  one  of  the  two  col- 
ored organizations  to  occupy  their  (white)  ])ulpits, 
and  leave  the  colored  minister  within  our  Church 
without  such  invitation.  The  result  was  almost  in- 
evitable. Pretty  soon  the  more  manly  members  of 
our  Church,  in  the  community  where  such  tricks 
were  played,  would  begin  to  say  :  "  Well,  that 's  pass- 
ing strange,  that  white  ministers  of  our  Church 
prefer  African  ministers  to  our  own.     It  must  be 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        73 

because  of  their  indepeiulence.  If  that's  so,  we 
want  some  of  it  also."  Tliat  an  undercurrent  of  this 
kind  has  flowed  along  the  stream  of  Methodism 
ever  since  the  colored  membership  question  has 
been  discussed,  is  easily  proven.  Now  the  class  of 
which  we  have  just  spoken  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  class  who  honestly  believed  that  it  would 
be  better  for  the  white  and  the  colored  members  to 
be  separate.  Not  that  they  (the  whites  spoken  of) 
were  unwilling  to  aid  the  colored  members,  nor  yet 
because  they  did  not  want  them  saved,  but  because 
the  loud  professions  and  annouiiced  success  of  the 
separate  colored  organizations  blinded  their  eyes. 
These  considered,  and  rightly  so  too,  all  such  per- 
sons their  best  allies.  The  African  and  African 
Zion  Churches  whispered  continually,  and  some- 
times preached,  that  the  colored  membership  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  a  burden  to  the 
white  folks.  These  organizations,  though  supported 
by  some  within  our  Church,  saw  there  were  but  two 
ways  in  which  they  could  induce  the  colored  ele- 
ment in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  join 
them, — by  loud  professions  of  "race  pride,"  and  ap- 
peals to  their  ignorance  and  prejudice.  This  they 
attempted  by  ap])eals  to  the  dignity  of  our  colored 
local  preachers ;  by  telling  the  more  ignorant  that 
they  were  being  imposed  upon  by  "  white  folks." 
They  told  the  local  preachers,  class-leaders,  etc., 
among  our  members,  that  it  was  a  shame  for  them  to 
have  white  masters  during  the  week  and  white  mas- 

7 


74  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

ters  on  the  Sabbath-day  also  ;  that  they  were  as  well 
qualified  literarily  to  have  charge  of  congregations 
with  white  members  as  some  of  the  white  pastors ; 
that  they  possessed  intelligence  enough  to  do  business 
for  themselves.  Then,  again,  they  would  say : 
"  There  will  never  come  a  time  when  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  will  allow  one  of  you  colored 
members  to  preside  as  their  presiding  elder  or 
pastor;  that  all  the  property  you  buy  belongs  to 
*  white  folks/  and  not  to  you." 

The  language  of  their  most  accurate  historian 
will  give  a  faint  idea  of  the  pressure  we  speak  of, 
which  was  and  is  now  brought  to  bear  upon  our 
people  in  some  localities.  He  says:  ''It  is  true 
our  colored  brethren  within  the  communion  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  worship  in  a  large 
number  of  churches  in  Maryland,  Delaware,  and 
other  of  the  Southern  States,  and  many  of  them 
are  fine  ones;  but  the  question  is:  'To  whom  do 
they  belong — the  congregations  worshiping  in  them, 
or  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church?'  We  all  know 
that  it  is  our  glory,  that  our  churches  belong  to  no 
one  congregation  or  body  of  trustees  in  particular, 
but  to  the  connection  in  general."  Again,  ibid:  "  It 
would  have  been  a  source  of  unspeakable  joy  had 
he  been  able  or  permitted  truthfully  to  record  that 
your  Church  had  acknowledged  your  full  and  true 
manhood,  and  not  denied  it  both  in  practice  and  in 
law ;  that  it  had  opened  its  school-doors  to  you, 
as  did  other  Christian  bodies,  and  like  them,  too, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       75 

have  received  you  into  conference  upon  a  perfect 
ministerial  equality;  but,  alas!  the  doors  of  its 
schools,  and  of  its  conferences  as  well,  were  locked, 
and  bolted,  and  barred  against  you."  He  was 
quoting  and  commenting  upon  the  words  of  another. 
Such  strong  talk,  mixed  as  it  was  with  bragga- 
docio, pretty  soon  had  the  desired  effect  upon  two 
large  classes  amongst  us — the  ambitious  illiterates 
and  the  pompous,  aspiring  for  recognition,  minus 
merit.  These  two  classes  were  soon,  after  such 
a  process  of  pumping,  inflated  until  their  sides 
puffed  nearly  to  bursting.  A  number  of  the  above- 
mentioned  classes  soon  concluded  that  they  must 
be  in  a  Church  where  there  was  a  favorable  chance 
for  every  member  of  an  annual  conference  to  be 
put  forth  before  the  world  as  a  noted  preacher, 
appointed  presiding  elder  or  a  General  Conference 
officer,  or  elected  to  the  bishopric.  It  is  difficult 
for  any  one,  who  understands  in  some  sort  the  feel- 
ings of  white  men  when  they  are  ambitious  for  no- 
toriety or  office  and  fail,  to  say  or  appreciate  the 
feelings  of  a  disappointed  colored  man  who  has 
known  nothing  save  ostracism.  To  expect  him  to 
refuse  preferment,  emolument,  or  office,  when  ten- 
dered, is  to  expect  an  ox  in  August  to  refuse  the 
shade.  Notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  the  col- 
ored man  has  labored  under  hitherto,  he  has  found 
out  that  in  a  nation  of  blind  men  the  one-eyed  man 
ought  to  be,  and  is,  king.  To  this  day  but  few 
white  people  have  learned  that  it  is  not  always  the 


76  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

most  profitable  thing  to  exchange  an  old  lamp  for 
a  new  one;  that  "it  is  better  to  bear  the  ills  we 
have,  than  fly  to  others  we  knoAV  not  of." 

To  say  that  at  no  time  a  single  colored  member 
within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  imagined 
the  Avool  was  being  pulled  over  his  eyes  by  men  of 
lighter  hue,  is  going  too  far.  To  say  there  never 
was  a  white  man  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
who  refused  to  recognize  or  affiliate  Avith  the  col- 
ored members  because  of  their  color,  who  refused  to 
do  for  him  there  Avhat  he  would  have  done  if  he  had 
been  elsewhere,  or  had  been  "  manly  and  independ- 
ent like  some  others,  and  paddled  his  own  canoe," 
or  that  all  such  have  left  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  is  going  farther  than  truth  warrants  or  the 
case  requires.  To  say  that  any  organization  among 
men  is  absolutely  perfect,  is  preposterous;  for  even 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  this  country  is 
not  what  it  can  and  will  be.  I  fear  much  of  the 
unrest,  and  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  withdrawals 
of  our  colored  membership  since  1812,  could  directly 
or  indirectly  be  attributed  to  the  actions  of  those 
within  and  without  the  Church  who  think  more  of 
caste  than  Christ,  more  of  popularity  than  right, 
and  more  of  men's  opinions  than  of  God's  Word. 
Notwithstanding  this,  we  hazard  the  statement  that, 
during  that  time,  there  has  not  been  an  hour  when 
the  heart  of  Methodism  in  general,  and  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  in  particular,  did  not  beat 
in    unison    with   that   of  the   Christ   of    God,  the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       77 

blessed  Master,  who,  in  the  midst  of  a  gainsaying 
world,  said :  "  I  call  you  not  servants,  for  the 
servant  knoweth  not  what  his  Lord  doeth ;  but  I 
called  you  brethren."  And  yet,  in  nearly  every 
instance  of  attack  made  by  the  two  colored  organ- 
izations upon  the  colored  members  in  our  Church 
up  to  this  time,  and  for  that  matter  all  time,  the 
exceptions  among  our  white  and  colored  member- 
ship have  by  them  been  spoken  of  as  the  rule. 
Their  statements  as  to  the  intelligence  or  ignorance 
of  our  colored  membership  was  the  natural  if  not 
legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  disposition,  action,  and 
words  of  some  of  our  white  members  who  remain 
in,  but  were  not  in  spirit  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  This  is  true  of  some  of  the  minis- 
ters as  well  as  white  members  of  our  Church. 
When  the  bishops.  General  Conference  officers, 
pastors,  or  members  of  the  two  colored  organizations 
visited  communities  where  we  had  churches,  they 
were  welcomed  as  no  other  colored  3fethodist8  were,  if 
for  no  other  than  for  the  reason  that  they  were 
high  in  authority  within  their  own  Church.  This 
distinction  was  not  always  clear  in  the  minds  of  our 
members.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  caused  us 
much  trouble  as  well  as  loss  of  preachers  and  lay 
members.  In  those  States  where  our  membersliip 
was  the  largest  and  most  influential,  and  where  our 
churches  were  better  and  finer,  the  effects  of  such 
stuif  were  more  telling  because  of  the  spirit  of  the 
people.     Our   members  saw   at   once   that  one   of 


78  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

three  things  had  to  be  done  to  hold  our  members : 
a  complete  colored  organization  had  to  be  formed 
among  us;  or  else  join  with  the  one  or  the  other 
of  those  organizations;  or  else  have  separate  annual 
conferences  within  our  Church,  so  that  the  presiding 
elderate,  pastorate,  trusteeship,  and  stewardship 
would  be  in  the  hands  and  charge  of  our  colored 
members. 

It  was  not  in  the  mind  of  the  two  eagles  that 
stirred  up  this  nest,  that  matters  would  turn  out  as 
they  did — that  instead  of  an  exode  from  the  mother 
of  Methodism  into  the  bosom  of  the  daughter,  a 
separate  perch  could  and  would  be  prepared.  The 
anticipation  was  that  all  the  colored  members  in  the 
Church  would  flock  into  the  two  African  Churches. 
This  hope  kept  those  two  organizations  from  unit- 
ing, while  each  thought  its  numbers  would  soon  be 
increased  by  the  coming  of  the  colored  members 
from  our  Church.  The  more  intelligent  colored 
men  in  our  Church  saw  and  felt  that  something 
had  to  be  done,  and  done  quickly.  I  could  wish 
they  had  opened  their  eyes  sooner.  Those  two 
organizations  knew  well  enough  that  if  the  colored 
members  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  North,  East,  and  the  States  bordering  on  the 
above  sections  decided  to  leave,  one  or  the  other,  or 
both  of  these,  would  get  them.  There  was  no  other 
Church  into  which  they  could  go.  Henoe  they 
worked  and  faithfully  watched  every  movement  of 
our   Church    touching   the   colored    people.     They 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       79 

well  knew  that  if  all  the  colored  members  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  joined  in  a  body  either 
one  of  their  organizations,  the  result  Avould  be  one 
great,  grand  colored  Methodist  Church.  I  truly 
believe  the  good  men  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  among  which  we  put  our  bishops,  saw  it 
in  that  light.  I  believe  other  white  members  in 
our  Church  were  laboring  every  day  for  the  sole 
object  of  bringing  about  a  union  of  all  the  colored 
Methodists.  They  believed  that  the  colored  man 
had  been  a  source  of  annoyance ;  that  the  good 
brethren  who  left  the  Church  in  1844  would  return 
if  the  colored  members  all  left  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church ;  that  it  would  be  a  great  set-back  as 
well  as  rebuke  to  the  "hot-headed  Abolitionists" 
who  kept  it  in  an  uproar  about  the  colored  man, 
and  would  prove  conclusively  that  the  radical 
element  within  it  was  all  wrong  and  the  conserva- 
tive element  was  all  right. 

When  the  General  Conference  of  1848  met  in 
the  city  of  Pittsburg,  several  petitions  from  the 
colored  members  of  our  Church  in  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  and  Maryland  were  presented.  The  peti- 
tioners asked  that,  since  the  Church  had  ordained 
colored  ministers,  they  be  given  the  charge  of 
the  congregations  over  which  white  pastors  had 
presided ;  that  a  separate  conference  be  granted 
them  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
These  petitions  were  not  only  received,  but  respect- 
fully and  carefully  considered.     The  petitions  were 


80  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

properly  and  promptly  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  the  State  of  the  Church.  In  due  time  the  above 
named  committee  reported  as  follows : 

"We  find  among  the  papers  presented  for  our 
consideration  memorials  from  different  places  within 
the  slave  States  from  our  colored  membership,  pray- 
ing for  recognition,  in  that  colored  ministers  be  sent 
to  them ;  for  the  organization  and  manning  of  dis- 
tricts; and  that  they  be  granted  a  separate  annual 
conference, — which  memorials  are  signed  by  2,735 
members." 

Thus  it  is  clearly  seen  that  much  unrest  was 
caused  by  the  delay  on  the  part  of  our  Church  in 
granting  a  separate  conference.  Our  work  to-day 
would  have  been  as  strong,  comparatively,  in  the 
Eastern  and  Northern  States  as  either  of  the  Africau 
Churches,  had  it  not  been  for  the  delay  in  grantiug 
us  a  separate  conference.  As  a  result  nearly  all  the 
colored  members  of  our  Church  in  the  North  and 
East  were  persuaded  to  unite  with  one  or  the  other 
of  the  African  Churches  which  were  under  the 
fostering  care  in  some  way  of  our  Church,  while 
they  desperately  fought  the  colored  element  within 
it.  Of  course,  this  is  strange.  A  fact  remains, 
that  the  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  felt  that 
while  under  obligations  to  help  the  colored  man, 
and  more  able  to  do  so  than  others,  she  was  unwill- 
ing to  have  him  driven  away,  whether  by  cen- 
trifugal or  centripetal  force.  The  committee 
above  referred  to  continued  its  report  as  follows: 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        81 

"  We  recommend  the  following  : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  all  persons  in  these 
United  States,  who  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  1844,  who  have  not  separated 
from  said  Church  by  withdrawals  or  expulsion 
according  to  the  Discipline  of  the  Church,  and  who 
express  a  desire  to  be  recognized  as  under  our  care 
and  jurisdiction,  as  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church ;  and  that  we  regard  it  our  duty, 
as  far  as  practicable,  to  supply  all  such  with  the 
preaching  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel." 

The  special  report  in  this  case  on  the  peti- 
tion from  the  Sharpe  Street  Church  of  Balti- 
more, asking  for  a  separate  conference,  reported  as 
follows : 

"That  having  carefully  considered  the  memo- 
rials, and  feeling  an  earnest  desire  to  do  all  that 
can  be  done  to  promote  the  spiritual  interests  of 
our  colored  people,  they  recommend  to  the  General 
Conference  for  adoption  the  following  resolutions: 

"Resolved,  That  the  organization  of  such  (sep- 
arate) conferences  at  present  is  inexpedient. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Discij)line  be  so  amended 
that  the  fifth  answer  in  section  10,  part  2,  shall 
road  as  follows :  '  The  bishops  may  employ  colored 
preachers  to  travel  and  preach  where  their  services 
are  judged  necessary :  Provided,  that  no  one  shall 
be  so  employed  without  having  been  recommended 
by  a  quarterly  conference.' " 

Thus  the  work  of  th.e  colored  members  of  the 


82  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  began  as  the  great 
Church  itself  began,  evolving  out  of  necessity,  and 
guided  by  Providence. 

The  already  existing  Churches — the  African  and 
African  Zion — were  not  allowed  to  operate  to  any 
great  extent  in  the  Southern  States  by  the  customs 
and  laws  of  these  States  ;  hence,  w  ithout  giving  any 
reason,  it  was  wise  to  conclude  that  at  that  time, 
and  in  that  territory,  the  organization  of  a  separate 
colored  conference  among  our  people,  within  the 
Church,  was  "  inexpedient."  And  yet  the  Church 
was  willing  to  do  what  it  thought  best  under  exist- 
ing circumstances.  The  colored  ministers  within 
the  Church  were  henceforth  to  travel  and  preach 
at  the  discretion  of  the  bishops.  Th's  was  tiie  be- 
ginning of  colored  traveling  preachers  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       83 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE  COLORED  PASTORATE. 

THE  employment  of  colored  ministers  in  the 
traveling  connection  in  the  Church,  like 
Methodism  itself,  was  a  child  of  necessity.  It  has 
grown  to  be  a  man,  however,  and  is  the  father  of 
several  children.  Notwithstanding  the  secession  of 
nearly  all  our  white  conferences  and  Churches — 
500,000  members  in  the  slaveholding  States  before 
mentioned — the  record  is  not  written  where  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  extended  overtures  to 
them  to  return  that  in  any  way  involved  the  relin- 
quishment of  its  hold  on  the  throat  of  slavery,  or 
that  equaled  that  offered  by  our  revered  president, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  to  the  Southern  Confederacy,  if 
they  would  return  to  the  Union.  The  whole  ques- 
tion of  opposing  slavery  by  the  Church  seems  to  have 
been,  all  along,  a  work  of  conscience,  not  to  be 
repented  of;  that  the  work  had  to  be  done,  because 
the  seal  of  God's  approval  rested  upon  it.  The 
action  and  firm  stand  taken  by  the  Church  in  1844 
put  a  quietus  upon  all  who  professed  to  believe  the 
rules  relating  to  slavery,  would  not  be  enforced 
during  the  ensuing  quadrennium. 

The  General  Conference  of  1852,  that  met  in 
the  city  of  Boston,  was  called  upon  to  consider  the 
expediency    of    separate    conferences    for    colored 


84  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

members.  The  custom  of  the  Church  had  usually 
been  to  leave  all  colored  congregations,  in  the 
appointments,  "  to  be  supplied."  But  as  the  work 
progressed  and  the  colored  membership  found  the 
braggadocio  of  those  "  who  went  out  from  us "  was 
invading  the  rank  and  file  of  their  work ;  that  each 
year  it  increased  with  telling  and  disheartening 
effect,  and  the  more  ambitious  members  among  us 
were  becoming  restless  and  wavering  in  their 
opinions,  threatening  with  dissolution  the  work  of 
the  colored  members  M'ithir  the  Church,  the  mem- 
bers within  the  bounds  of  the  Philadelphia  and 
New  Jersey  Conferences — at  any  rate  from  members 
of  our  Church  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey — 
sent  up,  not  only  memorials  to  this  General  Con- 
ference, but  representative  men  of  the  more  intel- 
ligent class,  to  represent  them  and  see,  at  the  same 
time,  the  way  the  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
would  treat  colored  memorialists.  When  the  me- 
morials were  presented,  asking  again  for  separate 
conferences,  they  were  promptly  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Missions.  After  careful- examination 
of  the  memorials,  they  called  before  them  the  rep- 
resentatives. "An  open  and  free  discussion  of  the 
interests  at  stake  and  the  benefits  anticipated  there- 
from, was  had."  The  committee  then  submitted  to 
the  General  Conference  the  following: 

"  The  Committee  on  Missions,  to  whom  was 
referred  the  petition  of  our  colored  brethren  from 
Philadelphia,  asking   that    the    pastors  within   the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        85 

Philadelphia  and  New  Jersey  Annual  Conferences 
may  be  formed  into  an  annual  conference,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  bishops  and  of  the  presiding  elders 
of  said  conference  within  whose  bounds  their  (the  col- 
ored pastors')  work  may  lie,  beg  leave  to  report  that 
the  committee  have  given  due  consideration  to  the 
petition,  and  have  heard  the  bearers  of  it  in  person, 
and  have  obtained  all  the  information  within  their 
reach,  and  have  come  to  the  following  conclusions: 

"  1.  That  it  is  very  desirable  that  the  colored 
pastors  mentioned  in  the  petition  aforesaid  should 
have  an  opportunity  to  meet  together  once  a  year, 
in  the  presence,  or  under  the  supervision,  of  the 
bishop  or  bishops,  in  order  to  confer  together 
with  respect  to  the  best  means  of  promoting  their 
work,  and  to  receive  the  assignment  of  their  work 
from  the  bishops  to  the  Churches  usually  left  in 
the  Minutes  'to  be  supplied/ 

"2.  That  in  this  meeting  it  is  desirable  that  the 
presiding  elders,  in  whose  bounds  the  colored 
Churches  and  congregations  lie,  should  be  present 
to  assist  the  bishop  in  the  assignment  of  the  work. 

"3.  Provided,  upon  due  inquiry  by  the  bishops, 
they  shall  find  a  sufficient  number  of  colored 
preachers  of  sufficient  qualifications  to  justify  an 
annual  meeting.  Having  arrived  at  these  conclu- 
sions, the  committee  have  agreed  on  the  following 
resolution,  which  is  reported  for  adoption  by  this 
General  Conference: 

"  Resolved,  That  we  advise  that  the  colored  local 


86  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

preachers  now  employed,  or  who  may  be  employed, 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Philadelphia  and  New 
Jersey  Annual  Conferences,  be  assembled  together 
once  in  each  year  by  the  bishop  or  bishops,  who 
may  preside  in  said  conference,  for  the  purpose  of 
conferring  with  the  said  colored  local  preachers  with 
respect  to  the  best  means  for  promoting  their  work, 
and  also  for  the  purpose  of  assigning  their  work, 
respectively ;  and  that  the  presiding  elders  within 
whose  bounds  and  under  whose  care  the  colored 
Churches  and  congregations  are,  be  present  and  aid 
the  bishop  or  bishops  in  said  annual  meeting  of 
local  preachers:  Provided,  that  upon  due  inquiry 
the  said  bishop  or  bishops  shall  find  such  an- 
nual meeting  aforesaid  to  be  practicable  and  ex- 
pedient.'' 

So  far  as  we  have  gone,  we  have  seen  a  disposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Church  to  give  the  colored 
man  all  the  rights  and  benefits  practicable  and  wise 
that  are  accorded  other  members.  It  was  not  to 
have  been  expected  that  he  would  demand  what 
was  not  best  for  him  as  he  saw  it,  or  that  he  should 
be  given  what  he  asked  for  when  it  was  as  imprac- 
ticable as  unwise.  There  is  no  parent  that  is  will- 
ing to  allow  a  child  to  have  its  own  way  in  every- 
thing— i,  e.,  if  a  wise  parent.  When  at  the  General 
Conference  of  1848  the  committee  reported  a  sep- 
arate conference  for  the  colored  members  within 
the  Church  "  inexpedient,"  what  was  thought  of  it? 
Was    it,    under   the    then    existing    circumstances, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       87 

impracticable  and  inexpedient?  It  was  most  assur- 
edly impracticable,  in  that  but  few  localities  would 
allow  slaves  to  have  a  meeting  of  their  own  in  the 
absence  of  some  white  person.  The  Lord  Jesus 
said:  "I  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfill 
the  law."  He  verified  this  by  paying  taxes,  and 
observing  (and  having  others  do  the  same)  the 
Jewish  law.  Suppose  the  Church,  at  that  time, 
had  given  them  a  separate  conference  for  Mary- 
land and  Delaware,  could  they  have  enjoyed  the 
benefits  of  it?  Most  assuredly  not.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  have  undoubtedly  weakened  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Church  with  the  masters,  and  sub- 
jected the  colored  members  to  restrictions  of 
privileges,  and  brought  upon  them  uncalled-for 
hardships. 

The  tasks  imposed  upon  the  poor  Hebrews  in 
Egypt  were  increased,  as  well  as  the  inflictions  of 
punishment,  as  soon  as  they  began  to  believe  in 
Moses'  plan  of  a  "three  days'  journey  into  the 
wilderness  to  worship  God."  When  a  desire  for  a 
separate  conference  came  from  those  who  could 
enjoy  it  without  let,  it  was  at  once  arranged  for 
them.  I  believe  the  more  intelligent  colored  men 
listened  to  the  words  of  advice  and  wisdom  of  the 
General  Conference  with  confidence.  And  yet  it 
must  be  declared  that  many  of  the  influential  col- 
ored members  of  our  Church  were  urged  up  to  the 
belief  that  it  was  refused  them  from  mere  jealousy 
on  the  part  of  *the  white  folks,'  because  they  did 


88  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

not  waut  the  colored  man  elevated;  because  they 
wished  to  boss  him  in  Church  matters  as  his  master 
did  in  e very-day  affairs. 

Very  many  advantages  were  offered  the  African 
Churches  by  tiie  failure  of  our  Church  to  grant 
the  requests  made  by  our  members  for  separate  an- 
nual conferences.  Whether  they  took  advantage 
of  them  or  not,  a  great  many  people  in  these  United 
States  believe  they  did.  Every  time  the  General 
Conference  was  asked  to  grant  separate  conferences, 
and  it  did  not  do  so  because  of  its  impracticability, 
it  was  not  strange  that  they  were  vexed,  hearing 
everywhere,  "  I  told  you  colored  folks  so."  As  a 
result  of  such  failure  we  lost,  from  1844  until  we 
were  granted  separate  conferences,  not  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  membership  of  the  African  Churches 
in  this  country  at  that  time.  As  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  it  is  really  true.  But  probably  the  Church 
was  not  to  be  blamed  altogether  for  not  doing  for  the 
colored  members  that  which  Avould  have  inevitably 
worked  hardships  for  them  in  the  slaveholding 
States.  But  why  did  not  the  Church  at  once  form 
separate  conferences  for  our  people  in  those  States 
where  the  African  and  African  Zion  Churches  were 
then  operating?  As  we  turn  these  questions  over 
in  our  minds,  several  valid  reasons  occur  to  us. 
Either  because  the  Church  loved  the  colored  man, 
and  wanted  him  to  have  his  own  choice  when 
allowed  to  enjoy  it — whether  for  separate  congrega- 
tions, conferences,  or  Churches — even  though  they 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        89 

all  declared  a  desire  to  unite  with  one  of  the  two 
colored  organizations,  or  both  of  them,  already  in 
existence,  and  thus  become  a  religious  power  in 
those  States  where  it  was  practicable,  in  the  which 
they  could  still  aid  them;  or  because  the  Church 
thought  the  world  would  declare — had  they  organ- 
ized another  colored  Church — that  they  were  fol- 
lowing with  opposition  and  spite  those  two  bodies, 
by  setting  up  a  "colored  Church"  within  a  white 
one  to  break  those  two  down;  or  the  Church  did 
not  want  to  move  in  the  matter  until  somewhat  of 
the  outcome  of  the  Negro  question  could  be  seen  or 
known ;  or  else,  because  th6y  really  thought  it  the 
duty  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  look 
after  those  colored  members  in  the  slave  States 
where  "the  colored  organizations"  could  not  go, 
and  abandon  all  other  colored  members  as  material 
for  the  upbuilding  of  their  work.  The  latter,  I 
believe,  is  nearer  the  truth.  And  by  this  is  not 
meant  that  they  refused  to  allow  colored  members 
to  join  the  Church,  or  to  commune  with  it  in  the 
"free  States,"  but  that  no  special  pains  were  put 
forth  to  induce  them  to  join  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  where  either  of  those  bodies  had  charge. 
This  is  one  of  the  advantages  they  have  enjoyed 
over  the  colored  members  remaining  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  Again,  may  it  not  be 
surmised  that  since  ours  is  "  the  Prince  of  peace," 
and  rivalry  in  ecclesiastical,  as  other  matters,  usually 
is  followed  by  strife,  that  the  refusal  of  the  Church 

8 


90  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

to  grant  separate  conferences  to  the  colored  mem- 
bers in  those  States  was  bnt  an  effort  to  avoid 
strife  ?  Again,  for  the  Church  to  have  granted  sep- 
arate conferences,  as  a  stay  against  the  secession 
spirit  manifested  in  1816  and  1823,  would  have 
been  considered  by  a  great  many  good  people — and 
used  to  advantage  by  the  seceders — as  a  declaration 
of  the  charges  made  by  the  African  Churches  that 
"the  whites  were  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  colored 
element  within  the  Church."  From  whatever  point 
we  take  cognizance  of  that  matter,  it  would  appear 
as  if  the  Church  tried  to  do  what  was  for  the  best. 
Every  conceivable  thing  was  done  to  pacify  and 
keep  the  colored  members  within  the  Church.  The 
secession  of  the  AYesleyans  had  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  complication  of  this  matter,  for  they  were, 
in  many  instances,  naturally  the  main  stay  for 
African  Methodism. 

THE  FIRST  COLORED  BISHOP  IN  THE  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

The   interest   the   Methodist  Episcopal   Cliurch 
had  in  the  colored  man  was  not  confined  to  America. 

"  The  old  Church  sought  her  sheep. 

The  parent  Fought  her  child ; 
She  followed  him  o'er  vale  and  hill, 

O'er  deserts  waste  and  wild; 
She  found  him  nigh  to  death, 

Famished,  and  faint,  and  lone ; 
She  bound  him  with  the  hands  of  love. 

She  saved  the  wandering  one." 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        91 

The  first  foreign  mission-field  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  Africa.  AYheu  the  "  freed 
people "  of  these  United  States  began  to  move  to 
the  west  coast  of  that  country,  the  Church  began 
to  follow  them  by  sending  over  missionaries  to-look 
after  her  colored  members  and  others  who  would 
accept  the  service.  From  time  to  time  the  mem- 
bership multiplied,  and  in  1833  a  mission  was 
organized  and  then  an  annual  conference.  This 
missionary  field  may  have  been  the  outgrowth  of 
the  seeds  sown  by  Dr.  Coke,  who  in  1814,  on  his 
voyage  to  India,  left  a  missionary  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  The  work  continued  to  increase  until 
it  was  declared  by  some  the  leaven  that  was  to  leaven 
Africa.  In  1834,  in  company  with  Rev.  John 
Seys,  was  sent  Rev.  Francis  Burns  from  New  York, 
he  having  been  ordained  deacon  and  elder  by  that 
man  of  God,  Bishop  Janes.  In  1849  he  was  ap- 
pointed presiding  elder  of  the  Cape  Palmas  District 
of  the  Liberia  Annual  Conference.  When  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1856  convened  in  the  city  of 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  a  new  phase  of  the  colored 
membership  question  came  up.  Africa  was  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  conference,  asking  for  a 
missionary  bishop.  The  General  Conference  at 
once  took  up  the  cry,  examined  the  matter,  and 
requested  the  Liberia  Annual  Conference  to  select 
the  man.  This  was  done  by  the  selecting  of  Rev. 
Francis  Burns.  He  at  once  prepared  to  return  to 
America  for  ordination. 


92  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Why  did  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  not 
send  a  bishop  by  the  AVest  Coast  of  Africa  and  have 
him  ordained  there?  AVhy  bring  him  back  to 
America,  where  the  colored  man  was  only  recog- 
nized as  a  chattel,  a  bondman,  a  serf?  And  yet, 
to  her  praise  be  it  said,  she  did  for  the  colored  man 
in  America  what  no  other  denomiyiation  found  it 
convenient  to  do — ordained  a  colored  man  to  the 
episcopacy.  When  Rev.  Francis  Burns  arrived  he 
was  given  all  the  honor  any  man  could  have  ex- 
pected. He  was  accordingly  ordained  at  the  session 
of  the  Genesee  Conference,  October  14,  1858, 
the  services  being  conducted  by  Bishops  Janes  and 
Baker.  But  after  all  this,  what  did  the  Church 
really  think  and  say  concerning  this  colored  man  at 
that  time?  The  assembly  that  witnessed  his  ordi- 
nation, and  those  who  grasped  his  ebony  hand  and 
bid  him  God-speed,  declare  in  the  words  of  Dr. 
Robie,  who  was  present :  "  Though  of  ebony  com- 
plexion, he  had  gained  wonderfully  on  the  aiFection 
and  respect  of  all  who  had  made  his  acquaintance, 
and  especially  those  privileged  to  an  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  him.  His  manner  is  exceedingly 
pleasant,  and  his  spirit  kind,  sweet,  and  good  as 
ever  beamed  from  human  heart  or  disposition.  He 
seems  to  be  lacking  in  none  of  the  qualifications  of 
the  gentleman  and  Christian  minister.  He  possesses 
also  an  intelligent  and  cultivated  mind,  speaks 
readily  and  fluently,  and  even  eloquently,  and  is  in 
all   respects   a   model    African.     Such    is   the   man 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        93 

whom  the  Liberia  Conference  has  selected  for  a 
bishop,  and  such  the  one  the  highest  authorities  of 
our  American  Church  have  set  apart  for  the  sacred 
and  responsible  position."  We  add,  Thus  shall  it  be 
done  to  the  coloi'ed  man  whom  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  delights  to  honor  on  slave  soil,  where 
prejudice  against  the  race  grew  as  rank  as  wild 
weeds. 

The  election  and  ordination  of  Bishop  Burns  was 
not  a  subterfuge,  for  the  Church  elected  another 
colored  man  to  the  episcopacy — Rev.  John  W. 
Roberts,  in  1866 — one  year  after  the  war  closed. 
He  was  consecrated  in  St.  Paul's  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  in  New  York  City,  June  20th  of  that 
year. 

With  the  interests  of  the  race  at  heart,  what 
more  could  she  have  done? 

But  the  advance  steps  already  taken  by  the 
Church  on  that  question  were  twisted  by  those  who 
opposed  the  Church  in  her  efforts  to  do  God's  will 
toward  the  downtrodden  race,  into  every  shape  but 
the  proper  one.  The  cry  still  went  up  from  at  least 
two  sources  that  the  Church  was  not  willing  to 
recognize  the  colored  ministry  and  members  within 
her  borders.  The  colored  members  within  the 
Church  where  such  attacks  were  made  still  felt 
tliat  a  further  step  must  be  taken  by  the  Church  to 
save  the  colored  membership.  So  there  came  up  to 
that  General  Conference  from  the  colored  members 
within  the  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  Jersey 


94  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Conferences  one  or  more  memorials,  all  of  which 
were  referred  to  a  special  committee,  which  reported 
as  follows : 

"The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the 
memorials  of  colored  members  Avithin  the  bounds 
of  the  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  Jersey 
Conferences,  after  due  consideration,  report  the 
following  for  the  adoption  of  the  conference,  and 
recommend  that  it  be  inserted  in  the  Discipline  as 
a  distinct  chapter,  entitled, 

"CHAPTER    VIII.      OF    THE    RIGHTS     AND    PRIVI- 
LEGES OF  OUR  COLORED  MEMBERS. 

"  1 .  Our  colored  preachers  and  official  members 
shall  have  all  the  privileges  which  are  usual  to 
others  in  quarterly  conferences,  where  the  usages 
of  the  country  do  not  forbid  it.  And  the  presiding 
elder  may  hold  for  them  a  separate  quarterly  con- 
ference when  in  his  judgment  it  shall  be  expedient. 

"  2.  The  bishop  or  presiding  elder  may  employ 
colored  preachers  to  travel  and  preach,  when  their 
services  are  judged  necessary:  Provided,  that  no 
one  shall  be  so  employed  without  having  been 
recommended  by  a  quarterly  conference. 

"3.  The  bishops  may  call  a  conference  once 
in  each  year  of  our  colored  local  preachers,  Avithin 
the  bounds  of  any  one  or  more  of  our  districts,  for 
the  purpose  of  conferring  wuth  them  with  respect  to 
the  wants  of  the  work  among  our  colored  people, 
and  the  best  means  to  be  employed  in  promoting, 
its  prosperity ;  at   which  conference   the  presiding 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        95 

elder  witliin  whose  district,  and  under  whose  care 
the  colored  charges  and  congregations  are,  shall  be 
present:  Provided,  that  the  holding  of  said  confer- 
ence or  conferences  shall  be  recommended  by  an 
annual  conference,  and  the  bishops,  upon  due  in- 
quiry, shall  deem  it  practicable  and  expedient." 

Again,  by  this  action,  the  Church  recognized 
the  colored  members  within  her  communion  as  being 
eligible  to  all  privileges  usual  to  other  members, 
showing  at  once  that  her  heart  was  all  right. 

THE  FIRST  EDUCATIONAL  EFFORT. 

By  this  is  not  meant  that  no  interest  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  race  had  been  manifested  prior  to 
this.  The  education  of  Bishop  Burns,  alone,  would 
refute  such  an  idea.  But  the  Church  began  to  see 
and  feel  that  something  on  a  larger  scale  ought  to 
be  done  for  the  higher  education  of  the  colored 
youth  within  the  Church.  The  very  idea  points 
out  the  fact  that  the  Church  saw  for  her  colored 
members  a  better  day  coming.  At  the  General  Con- 
ference above  mentioned,  Wilberforce  University, 
now  in  the  hands  of  our  brethren  of  the  African 
Church,  at  Xenia,  Ohio,  was  purchased  by  a  num- 
ber of  individuals,  and  was  under  the  patronage  of 
the  Cincinnati  Conference  of  our  Church,  and  was 
"devoted  to  the  higher  education  of  colored  youth." 
Rev.  .T.  F.  Wright,  D.  D.,  its  efficient  agent,  pre- 
sented its  claims  to  the  General  Conference.  He 
traveled  in  its  interest,  and  it  continued  to  flourish. 


96  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Rev.  R.  S.  Rust,  D  D.,  became  president  of  this 
institution  in  1859.  Our  brethren  of  the  African 
Church  began  to  feel  the  need  of  a  better  educated 
ministry,  and  having  no  outlook  for  such  an  insti- 
tution turned  their  attention  toward  this  institution. 
Bishop  D.  A.  Payne,  having  formed  the  acquaint- 
ance of  President  Rust,  began  negotiations  for  the 
transfer  of  that  property  to  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church;  and,  in  1863,  it  accordingly 
"passed  into  their  hands  for  a  nominal  sum."  Thus 
the  beginning  of  the  educational  work  in  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  but  the 
outgrowth  of  the  generosity  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  toward  the  colored  race,  Avhether 
within  or  without  the  Church.  It  is  true  that  but 
little,  if  any,  credit  is  ever  given  to  the  Church  that 
was  represented  in  the  matter  by  our  own  Dr.  R. 
S.  Rust.  They  sometimes — and  Bishop  Payne  all 
the  time — mention  gratefully  his  name,  but  no  public 
acknowledgment  by  that  Church  has  yet  been  made 
to  us  for  the  advantages  given  them  in  this 
transaction ;  and  hence  many  a  student,  who  has 
attended  there,  has  gone  away  ignorant  of  these 
facts.  That  transaction  is  but  another  proof  of  the 
fact  that  but  little,  if  any,  opposition  or  rivalry 
has  ever  been  allowed  from  our  Church  toward 
their  Church. 

It  did  seem  that,  ecclesiastically  as  well  as  polit- 
ically, "Providence  had  wisely  mingled  their  cup." 
When  one  phase  of  the  question  touching  slavery 


TEE  METEODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.       97 

had  been  met,  another  phase  developed.  If  ecclesias- 
ticism  met  this  "sum  of  all  villainies"  in  its  way, 
and  struck  it  down,  leaving  it  wounded,  bleeding, 
and  dying,  it  would,  phoenix-like,  the  next  day 
appear  in  the  political  field.  Like  "Banquo's 
ghost,"  it  would  not  down  at  the  bidding.  Tiic 
General  Conference  of  1856  had  hardly  adjourned 
before  the  political  world  was  startled  by  the  case 
of  a  colored  man — Dred  Scott — which  was  brought 
before  the  courts  for  decision.  The  appeal  was 
brought  up  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Chief  Justice 
Taney,  speaking  for  the  court,  declared  in  this  case 
that  "Negroes,  whether  free  or  slaves,  are  not  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  and  they  can  not  become 
such  by  any  process  known  to  the  Constitution." 
This  decision  caused  a  ripple,  not  only  on  the  sea 
of  politics,  but  over  the  placid  stream  of  Meth- 
odism ;  for  it  must  not  appear  or  be  considered 
egotism  when  it  is  said  nothing  relating  to  the 
interests  of  the  colored  man  has  transpired  in  this 
country  in  which  Methodism  did  not  take  part. 
And  yet,  as  strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  Church 
has  always  objected  to  mixing  politics  with  religion  ; 
but  believing  the  converse  admissible,  our  Church 
papers  began  to  wage  war  in  favor  of  this  colored 
man,  as  if  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

This  excitement  had  not  subsided  when  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  as  the  nominee  of  the  Republican 
party,  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

9 


98  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

The  relation  our  Church  sustained  to  that  conflict 
will  be  better  understood  when  it  is  remembered 
that  Torrey  and  Lovejoy,  the  two  martyrs  to  the 
Abolition  cause,  were  New  England  ministers ;  that 
the  New  England  Methodists  very  early  identified 
themselves  with  this  cause,  and  poured  hot  shot 
into  the  foul  slave  oligarchy.  As  early  as  June  4, 
1835,  the  New  England  Conference  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  had  organized  an  anti- 
slavery  society — not  simply  a  non-partisan,  namby- 
pamby  sort  of  a  stay-at-home-and-pray  society,  but 
active,  vigilant,  and  progressive — on  the  basis 
of  the  immediate  and  unconditional  abolition  of 
slavery.  North  Bennett  Street  Methodist  Episcopal 
Cliurch,  in  Boston,  was  opened  in  that  year  for 
Rev.  George  Thompson  to  preach  a  sermon  against 
slavery.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  spoke  of  that 
meeting  as  follows : 

"  In  these  days  of  slavish  servility  and  malig- 
naut  prejudices,  we  are  presented  occasionally  with 
some  beautiful  specimens  of  Christian  obedience 
and  courage.  One  of  these  is  seen  in  the  opening 
of  the  North  Bennett  Street  Methodist  Episcopal 
meeting-house  in  Boston  to  the  advocates  for  the 
honor  of  God,  the  salvation  of  our  country,  and 
the  freedom  of  enslaved  millions  in  our  midst. 
As  the  pen  of  the  historian,  in  after  years,  shall 
trace  the  rise,  progress,  and  glorious  triumph  of  the 
Abolition  cause,  he  will  delight  to  record,  and  pos- 
terity will    delight   to   read,   that   when    all   other 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.        99 

pulpits  were  dumb,  all  other  churches  closed  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  in  Boston,  the  boasted  'cradle 
of  liberty,'  there  was  one  pulpit  that  would  speak 
out,  one  Church  that  would  throw  open  its  doors 
in  behalf  of  the  downtrodden  victims  of  American 
tyranny,  and  that  was  the  pulpit  and  Church  above 
alluded  to.  The  primitive  spirit  of  Methodism  is 
beginning  to  revive  with  all  its  holy  zeal  and  cour- 
age, and  it  will  not  falter  until  all  the  Methodist 
Churches  are  purged  from  the  pollution  of  slavery, 
and  the  last  slave  in  the  land  stands  forth  a 
redeemed  and  regenerated  being." 

Notwithstanding  the  above,  such  Methodist  min- 
isters as  Rev.  Gilbert  Haven  and  others  kept  the 
ball  rolling.  It  is  said  of  one  of  our  bishops : 
"  Throughout  the  late  contest  Bishop  Simpson  did 
much  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  President  Lin- 
coln, and  to  nerve  the  spirit  of  the  nation  to  en- 
dure any  sacrifice  for  the  cause  of  the  Union." 
Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  Church,  in  one  way 
or  the  other,  was  connected  with  nearly  every  effort 
for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  ?  Therefore  the 
eighteenth  session  of  the  General  Conference  that 
convened  in  the  city  of  Buffalo,  May,  1860,  was 
anticipated  with  much  anxiety. 

The  great  debate  on  the  question  of  slavery  at 
the  last  General  Conference  had,  during  this  entire 
quadrennium,  proven  sufficient  to  keep  up  the  agi- 
tation all  along  the  line.  Dr.  Abel  Stevens,  then 
editor    of   the    Christian    Advocate,    addressed    an 


100  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

"  Appeal "  to  the  general  Church  "  concerning  -what 
the  next  General  Conference  should  do  on  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery."  This  appeal  aimed  simply  to 
have  the  next  General  Conference  declare  "the 
sense  of  the  Church  on  the  whole  subject,"  with 
"  a  note,  put  in  the  margin  of  the  General  Rule," 
that  declared  "the  only  cases  of  slavcholding  ad- 
missible to  our  communion  are  such  as  are  con- 
sistent with  the  Golden  Rule."  Drs.  Nathan  BaiiQ-s 
and  J.  H.  Perry,  at  the  head  of  a  "  Ministers'  and 
Laymen's  Union,"  formed  within  the  New  York 
Conference  in  1859,  and  the  Anti-slavery  Society, 
with  Dr.  Curry  leading,  hurled  their  anathemas 
against  Dr.  Stevens's  proposition.  Resolutions  fa- 
voring a  new  rule  on  slavery,  prior  to  the  General 
Conference  of  1860, were  voted  upon  as  follows:  Cin- 
cinnati, 319  votes  for,  1,212  votes  against  it;  Provi- 
dence, 1,242  for,  and  1,329  votes  against  it;  Erie, 
1,795  for,  and  1,416  votes  against  it.  It  was  conceded 
that  the  cause  of  human  liberty  would  receive  a 
fresh  impetus  from  the  ringing  speeches  that  would 
be  delivered,  and  from  the  solid  resolutions  that 
would  be  passed  at  that  General  Conference.  Ac- 
cordingly two  classes  of  petitions  were  presented : 
"  Those  asking  for  the  extirpation  of  slavery  from 
the  Church,"  and  "  those  asking  that  no  change  be 
made  in  the  Discipline  on  the  subject  of  slavery." 
A  special  committee  was  ordered  to  receive  resolu- 
tions of  this  kind.  There  was  also  appointed  "a 
Committee  on  our  Colored  Membership."     Several 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      101 

memorials  and  petitions  from  our  colored  member- 
ship were  presented.  After  due  consideration,  not- 
witlistauding  the  excitement  on  account  of  the 
agitation  of  the  question  of  slavery,  that  committee 
reported  as  follows:  * 

"The  Committee  on  Colored  Membership,  to 
which  were  referred  certain  memorials  from  colored 
local  preachers,  respectfully  represent :  That  hav- 
ing examined  said  memorials,  they  find  that  they 
request  this  body,  (1)  To  extend  the  bounds  of  the 
conference  of  colored  local  preachers,  called  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provisions  introduced  into  the  Dis- 
cipline at  the  last  General  Conference ;  (2)  To  grant 
them  the  poAver  to  try  and  expel  their  own  members ; 
(3)  To  confer  upon  the  conference  of  colored  local 
preachers  power  to  elect  to  deacons'  and  elders'  or- 
ders ;  (4)  To  invest  said  conference  with  all  the  powers 
of  a  regular  annual  conference;  (5)  To  admit  col- 
ored preachers  to  membership  in  our  annual  confer- 
ences. Your  committee  find  that  the  first  two  objects 
prayed  for  are,  in  substance,  covered  by  provisions 
already  existing  in  the  Discipline,  which  appear  to 
have  been  overlooked  by  the  petitioners.  In  re- 
gard to  items  three  and  four,  referred  to  above, 
your  committee  find  that  the  prayer  of  the  memo- 
rialists could  not  be  granted  without  doing  violence 
to  our  usages  and  Disciplinary  regulations.  The 
fifth  item  embraced  in  the  memorials  before  us  was 
withdrawn  by  the  representative  of  the  petitioners, 
who  appeared  in  person  before  the  committee.     In 


102  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

view  of  the  whole  of  the  foregoing,  your  committee 
recommend  that  the  whole  subject  be  dismissed. 
All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

"S.  Y.  Monroe,  Chairman." 

\Vhen  the  Committee  on  Slavery  reported,  there 
were  submitted  a  "majority"  and  a  "minority" 
report,  a  substitute  for  the  majority  report.  The 
first  resolution  of  the  committee  was : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  delegates  of  the  several  an- 
nual conferences,  in  General  Conference  assembled. 
That  we  recommend  the  amendment  of  the  General 
Rule  on  Slavery,  so  that  it  shall  read  :  '  The  buy- 
ing, selling,  or  holding  of  men,  women,  or  children, 
with  an  intention  to  enslave  them.'" 

This  motion  Avas  lost,  since  it  required  a  two- 
thirds  vote ;  and  138  voted  for  it,  and  74  against  it. 
The  second  resolution  was : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  suspension 
of  the  fourth  Restrictive  Rule,  for  the  purpose  set 
forth  in  the  foregoing  resolution." 

The  first  resolution  having  failed,  this  was  laid 
on  the  table.     The  third  was: 

"Resolved,  by  the  delegates  of  the  several  an- 
nual conferences,  in  General  Conference  assembled. 
That  the  following  be,  and  hereby  is,  substituted  in 
the  place  of  the  seventh  chapter  on  Slavery :  Ques- 
tion. What  shall  be  done  for  the  extirpation  of 
slavery  ?  Answer.  AVe  declare  that  we  are  as  much 
as  ever  convinced  of  the  great  evil  of  slavery. 
We  believe  that  the  buying,  selling,  or  holding  of 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      103 

human  beings  as  chattels,  is  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  God  and  nature,  inconsistent  with  the  Golden 
Rule,  and  with  that  rule  in  our  Discipline  which 
requires  all  who  desire  to  remain  among  ns  to  Mo 
no  harm,  and  to  avoid  evil  of  every  kind.'  We 
therefore  affectionately  admonish  all  our  preachers 
and  people  to  keep  themselves  pure  from  this  groat 
evil,  and  to  seek  its  extirpation  by  all  lawful  and 
Christian  means." 

This  was  necessarily  the  last  work  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
on  behalf  of  the  colored  man  before  the  terrible 
Civil  War  in  this  country,  that  began  during  the 
ensuing  quadrennium. 


104  THE  COLORED  MAN. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RETROSPECT. 

WHO  has  not,  ere  this,  declared  slavery  a  vice  ? 
We  have  seen  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  1796  not  only  warned  its  members 
against  the  vice  of  holding  their  fellow-men,  their 
brethren,  as  slaves,  but  required  a  guarantee  from 
applicants  for  membership  that,  if  owners  of  slaves, 
they  would  manumit  them  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment;  if  not,  that  they  would  not  engage  in  it 
while  in  the  communion  of  the  Church ;  that  if 
"any  among  us  do  not  wish  to  abide  by  this  rule, 
they  shall  have  the  privilege  quietly  to  withdraw." 
Such  a  spirit  was  in  keeping  with  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Not 
only  this,  but  any  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  who  should  sell  a  human  being  for  any 
reason,  was  to  be  expelled.  In  cases  where  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  bought  colored  people,  even 
though  done  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  husband 
and  wife  together,  or  from  being  separated,  it  was 
stipulated  that  such  should  only  be  held  in  servi- 
tude a  sufficient  time  to  pay  back  to  the  purchaser 
the  price  paid  for  him  or  her.  This  plan,  in  itself, 
was  not  only  a  wise  business  transaction  for  the 
liberation   of  slaves,  but  humane  and  just;    cred- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      105 

itable  to  the  Church  and  honorable  in  the  purchaser 
when  done  willingly,  as  well  as  elevating  in  its 
very  nature,  and  calculated  to  put  the  slave  under 
perpetual  gratitude  to  his  liberator.  The  plan  was 
unique,  and  if  it  had  been  observed  in  every  such 
case  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  fair 
land,  our  American  civilization  would  have  become 
the  ideal  of  the  world.  If  our  government  had  but 
consented  to  adopt  some  such  measure  looking  to 
the  gradual  liberation  of  the  slaves,  is  it  not  rational 
to  believe  the  late  Civil  War  could  have  been  averted, 
and  many  precious  lives  and  much  property  been 
saved?  But  the  American  people  apparently  did 
not  view  it  in  that  light.  It  came  at  last,  as  of 
old,  the  arbitrary  Pharaoh  rushed  on  pursuing  his 
slaves,  notwithstanding  the  terrible  warnings  given, 
until  ingulfed  in  the  boisterous  waves  of  the  mighty 
Red  Sea.  How  true  is  it  that  "  the  wicked  pass  on, 
and  are  punished !"  No  more  fearful  punishment 
ever  came  upon  any  nation  than  came  upon  ours 
because  of  slavery.  Although  the  above  plan  was 
adopted  by  the  Church,  it  declared  that  if  a  Meth- 
odist person  purchased  a  slave  woman,  all  her  chil- 
dren— whether  her  husband  was  a  free  man  or  not — 
were  to  be  free  from  birth.  Thus  the  Church 
sought  at  once  to  begin  emancipation. 

The  General  Conference  of  1800  declared  slavery 
among  ministers  or  lay  members  not  only  "  repre- 
hensible," but  that  "such  slaveholders  must  con- 
sent to  manumit  all  such  persons  held  in  bondage 


106  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

or  leave  tbe  Church,"  even  though  purchased 
to  prevent  the  separation  of  husband  and  wife,  or 
parents  and  children.  Thus  the  Church  unmis- 
takably declared  its  unutterable  opposition  to  the 
heretical  doctrine  of  "doing  evil  that  good  may 
come  of  it."  That  General  Conference,  if  possible, 
went  further  still  when  it  declared:  "Any  minister 
who  marries  a  slaveholding  wife  must  be  expelled." 
If  this  was  not  strong  language,  then  there  is. 
none.  The  Church,  at  that  period,  sought  not  only 
to  protect,  but  to  give  "  the  colored  members 
within  its  communion  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
guaranteed  by  the  Discipline  to  any  other  mem- 
bers." Was  it  strange,  after  this  action,  that  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  decided  that  even  col- 
ored men  were  eligible  to  ordination  ?  From  hence- 
forth the  Church  saw  no  valid  reason,  as  there 
was  none,  why  it  should  not  be  done;  and  hence 
the  Church  began  to  ordain  colored  men  as  "  dea- 
cons in  the  Church  of  God." 

We  have  seen  that  at  each  General  Confer- 
ence of  our  Church  from  the  beginning,  the  ques- 
tion of  human  slavery  was  discussed,  opposed,  and 
anathematized  by  the  Church.  And  yet  during 
that  time  many  strange  things  occurred.  In  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1804,  that  met  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  Freeborn  Garrettson  moved  that  the 
question  of  the  buying  and  selling  of  slaves  be  left 
to  the  three  bishops  for  regulation.  Just  what  this 
meant  does   not  appear  on  the  surface.     It  could 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      107 

have  meant  that  the  Church  knew  the  hearts  of  the 
three  bishops  were  right,  and  that  they  would  there- 
fore oppose  anything  like  a  compromise  with  the 
system  of  human  slavery  then  in  vogue.  It  could 
have  meant  that  they  were  conservative,  and  would 
not,  therefore,  likely  precipitate  any  trouble  upon 
the  Church  on  account  of  this  vexed  question. 
Viewed  from  any  point  at  this  distance,  it  assumes 
a  strange  attitude.  It  may  have  been  intended  as 
a  measure  to  "bring  peace  out  of  confusion;"  but 
"peace,"  "peace,"  when  there  could  be  no  peace, 
had  been  the  slaveholders'  cry  all  along.  It  was 
considered  a  conciliatory  measure.  It  proved  to  be 
exactly  the  reverse.  It  resulted  in  confusion ;  for 
the  following  General  Conference,  in  1808,  declared 
that  the  question  of  "  buying  and  selling  slaves  must 
hereafter  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  several 
annual  conferences  for  decision.  Though  this  action 
was  taken  seventy-nine  years  ago,  it  appears  as  in- 
explicable to  the  writer  as  it  did  to  some  men  at 
that  day.  Its  consistency  and  spirit  do  not  even 
to-day  present  a  single  redeeming  feature.  Every 
General  Conference  had  moved  a  notch  higher  in 
opposition  to  slavery,  and  now  the  whole  subject 
was  ordered  out  of  the  General  Conference,  to  be 
decided  by  the  annual  conferences,  in  the  which 
were  some  probably,  if  not  slaveholders,  sympa- 
thizers with  slavery.  This  was  done,  too,  in  face 
of  the  well-known  fact  that  the  United  States 
government  had   become  so  disturbed  on  account 


108  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  the  discussions  arising  out  of  the  question  of 
human  slavery  and  other  causes,  as  to  prohibit 
the  importation  of  any  more  African  slaves  into 
America.  It  could  have  been  one  of  those  peculiar 
proceedings  that  occur  now  and  then,  in  the  which 
"certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which  life,  lib- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  have  no  consid- 
eration; but  in  the  which  "expediency,"  and  not 
principle,  obtain.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  the 
action  taken  by  that  General  Conference  on  the 
question  of  slavery  was  regretted  by  many  after- 
ward. The  motion  by  which  that  question  was  sent 
down  to  the  annual  conferences  was  a  repetition  of 
the  political  idea  of  the  doctrine  of  States'  rights, 
with  the  colored  man's  interests  not  considered. 

When  the  General  Conference  met  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore  in  1812,  the  persistency  of  the  friends 
of  the  colored  man  in  pushing  his  claims  showed 
him  not  friendless.  The  colored  man,  like  other 
men,  feels  very  keenly  impositions,  and  yet  we 
think  it  is  conceded  that  he  is  of  a  religious  turn 
of  mind,  docile  and  humble,  but  has  his  preferences 
as  clearly  as  other  men.  He  does  not  like  to  be 
considered  a  bone  of  contention,  a  cat's-paw,  or  an 
intruder.  He  does  like  to  have  his  manhood  re- 
spected. But  suppose  the  above  action  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1808  was  a  mistake,  is  it  not 
admissible  that  it  was  possible  to  turn  the  head  of 
the  Church  in  the  opposite  direction  now  and 
then,  if  even  for  a  time  only?     It  was  a  perplexing 


I 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      109 

question,  indeed;  and  as  the  law  of  the  land  sup- 
ported it — for  slavery  shielded  itself  behind  the 
venerated  Constitution — what  more  could  the  Church 
do,  since  some  conferences  were  in  Massachusetts 
and  some  in  Solith  Carolina?  However,  that  Gen- 
eral Conference  declared  that  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances but  little,  if  anything,  could  be  done  to 
abolish  human  slavery  in  America  outside  of  po- 
litical powers ;  that  the  Church  of  God  in  general, 
and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  particular, 
could  not  reach  the  question  as  effectively  as  the 
civil  law.  But  the  civil  law  had  only  then  begun 
to  take  notice  of  the  foul  system  of  slavery  in  this 
country. 

In  the  despondency  of  that  day  and  hour — for 
there  was  despondency  behind  the  action  of  that 
body  on  the  question  of  slavery — the  attention  of 
that  General  Conference  was  called  to  consider  the 
advisability  of  looking  after  the  interests  of  "the 
free  people  of  color."  In  some  States  the  manu- 
mission of  slaves  was  prohibited,  except  they  were 
at  once  moved  out  of  that  State.  In  cases  where 
this  was  not  done  some  complaint  would  usually  be 
lodged  against  them,  and  they  were  incarcerated  in 
prison,  and,  "  as  a  penalty  for  violation  of  the  law, 
were  sold  again  into  slavery  by  sheriff's  sale."  Col- 
onization in  Africa  was  seemingly  the  only  hope. 
Hence,  when  a  report  was  presented  to  the  General 
Conference  from  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
it  was  commended  to  the  generous  public.     Such 


110  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

cases  as  that  of  Dred  Scott  discouraged  many- 
people  who  wished  to  manumit  their  slaves  from 
doing  so,  for  fear  they  might  be  re-enslaved.  The 
General  Conference  declared  the  idea  of  coloniz- 
ing the  "free  people  of  color"  in  Africa  as  a  wise 
measure  in  the  right  direction.  What  less  could 
the  Church  have  done  for  the  race?  What  less 
ought  it  to  have  done?  When  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1816  met,  the  question  of  slavery,  and 
the  proper  recognition  of  the  colored  members  of 
the  Church  came  up  for  consideration.  The  Church 
must  have  seen  by  that  time  that  a  mistake  had 
been  made  by  refusing  to  grant  its  colored  mem- 
bers a  separate  conference.  Not  that  the  Church 
had  given  colored  members  of  intelligence  "  cause 
for  complaint,"  but  that  it  did  not  sooner  see  that 
an  insidious  foe  was  in  its  very  vitals,  stealing 
away  its  life.  If  the  Church,  however,  had  been 
an  institution  dependent  upon  the  whims  of  the 
human  family,  whose  strength  and  perpetuation 
were  dependent  wholly  upon  its  agreement  with  the 
slave  oligarchy,  the  action  taken  by  tlie  Church  in 
defense  of  her  colored  members  would  have  ap- 
peared fool-hardy.  But  it  was  not,  for  it  had  the 
support  of  Him  who  said,  "Upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it." 

The  secession  of  the  "  Allenites  "  alienated  quite  a 
number  of  Christian  men  from  the  side  of  the  defense 
of  the  colored  man.     Why  should  it  not,  when  a  few 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH     111 

of  the  faithful  white  men  had  not  only  jeoparded 
their  future  prospects,  blighted  their  present  fame, 
brought  down  upon  them  the  vituperation  and 
obloquy  of  the  slave  oligarchy  within  and  without 
the  Church,  simply  because  they  professed  to  believe 
"a  man's  a  man  for  a'  that,  and  a'  that?"  Is  it 
not  strange  that  some  were  so  unwise  as  to  be 
misled  by  a  misguiding  or  ambitious  spirit,  when 
they  were  not  able  to  add  one  cubit  to  their  stature 
or  make  one  hair  white  or  black  ? 

During  the  ensuing  quadrennium  "the  color 
question"  was  discussed  pro  and  con.  When  the 
General  Conference  of  1824  met  in  Baltimore,  and 
declared  that  colored  preachers  were  entitled  to 
equal  privileges  "with  others,"  it  was  a  commend- 
able step.  Such  action  was  calculated  to  restore  to 
the  fold  the  seceders  of  1816  and  1820,  had  their 
ambition  not  reached  beyond  justice  and  right. 
Although  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  did  all 
in  its  power,  apparently,  by  General  Conference 
action  and  ejascopal  supervision,  to  reclaim  the  se- 
ceders, they  persistently  refused  either  to  be  com- 
forted or  to  return  to  the  fold.  Probably  sufficient 
cause  can  be  found  in  Bishop  Allen's  reasons  for 
not  wishing  to  accept  Bishop  Asbury's  invitation  to 
travel  and  preach  with  him,  when  the  reason  as  given 
by  him  to  the  bishop  was,  that  he  thought  "that  men 
should  lay  up  something  for  a  rainy  day."  There 
was  never  a  promise  made  by  the  Master  to  give 
any  man  a  large  salary  to  hunt  up  "the  lost  sheep 


112  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  Israel."  Because  of  the  failure  to  conciliate 
those  offended  brethren  some  looked  askant  at 
Methodism ;  because,  forsooth,  they  knew  not  the 
bottom  facts.  From  the  General  Conference  of  1824 
to  that  of  1836,  which  met  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  the 
agitation  of  the  question  continued.  The  con- 
demnation of  the  two  premature  lecturers  by  this 
General  Conference  gave  great  offense  to  the  Abo- 
litionists everywhere,  and  depressed  woefully  the 
spirits  of  the  colored  members  without  the  Church. 
Poor,  ignorant,  and  deluded  men  would  natur- 
ally and  rightfully  conclude  that  in  the  hearts 
and  bosoms  of  those  men  their  dearest  interests 
were  planted,  and  hence  the  disposition  to  put  a 
quietus  upon  them  was  equivalent  to  the  non-recog- 
nition of  the  rights  of  the  colored  man  within  and 
without  the  Church  to  the  bright  anticipation  of 
ever  being  allowed  the  enjoyment  of  "  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  As  a  natural  result 
of  the  supposed  compromise  with  slavery  made  by 
the  "Conference  Rights"  act,  many  conferences 
complained  by  memorial  that  they  had  difficulty 
after  difficulty  in  properly  adjusting  the  matter  of 
slavery.  Hence  came  the  next  step — legitimate 
child  of  previous  action — a  declaration  that  the 
question  of  slavery  was  one  of  those  peculiar  cases 
where  only  the  civil  law  could  properly  adjust  and 
act  upon  it.  From  1836  to  1844  the  war  on  slavery 
and  in  favor  of  slavery  was  unceasingly  waged 
within  and  without  the  Church.     The  thought  of 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      113 

the  regular  succession  of  events  is  not  to  be  ques- 
tioned when  we  remember  the  struggles  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1840  at  Baltimore  over  the  ap- 
peal of  Silas  Comfort,  and  that  of  the  marriage  of 
a  Baltimorean  preacher  and  a  Georgian  bishop  to 
slaveholding  women.  The  Silas  Comfort  decision 
was,  on  the  whole,  the  best  thing  possible  for  the 
peace  of  the  colored  man  within  and  without  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Tiie  decision  was  all 
that  could  have  been  asked  so  far  as  the  then  present 
peace  of  the  colored  man  was  concerned.  But  the 
Lord  Jesus  at  one  time  said:  "I  came  not  to 
bring  peace  on  the  earth,  but  a  sword."  If  we 
have  the  proper  conception  of  his  meaning,  there 
are  times  when  peace  is  not  the  best  thing  possible. 
When  the  General  Conference  received  the  protest 
from  Sliarj)  Street  Church  against  the  decision,  it 
only  exhibited  the  fact  that  men  and  Churches  do 
not  always  see  themselves  as  others  see  them. 

But  if  in  tlie  Silas  Comfort  appeal  decision  the 
enemies  of  human  rights  scored  a  victory  over  the 
friends  of  human  freedom,  the  latter  turned  the  tide 
and  scored  a  more  glorious  as  well  as  righteous  vic- 
tory at  the  General  Conference  of  1844,  that  met  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  when  the  resolution  that  had  been 
carried  and  placed  on  record  denouncing  the  action 
of  "  the  two  Abolition  lecturers "  was  ordered  to  be 
expunged  therefrom.  At  that  General  Conference 
a  petition  was  presented  from  the  colored  ministers 
within  the  Church  asking  admission  into  the  annual 

10 


114  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

conferences.  This  was  refused  for  some  reason. 
Then  there  followed  a  petition  for  a  separate  con- 
ference. The  wisdom  of  the  refusal  to  grant  said 
separate  conference  is  now  apparent  to  all  who  are 
either  concerned  or  have  the  interests  of  the  race, 
as  such,  at  heart.  No  argument  is  needed  to  sub- 
stantiate the  above  proposition  in  the  minds  of  any 
intelligent  person.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  his- 
torian of  African  Methodism  said  in  his  "  Apology :" 
"It  would  have  been  a  source  of  unspeakable  joy 
had  he  been  permitted  truthfully  to  record  that 
your  Church  had  acknowledged  your  full  and  true 
manhood,  and  not  denied  it  both  in  practice  and  in 
law — had  received  you  into  conference  upon  a  per- 
fect ministerial  equality ;  but,  alas !  the  doors  of  its 
conferences  were  locked,  and  bolted  and  barred 
against  you."  Such  thrusts  as  the  above,  if  there 
was  no  other  sufficient  reason  for  asking  it,  were 
certainly  calculated  to  urge  the  matter  forward, 
because  the  restlessness  of  the  members,  begotten 
by  such  unsolicited  and  sophisticated  sympathy, 
showed  it  necessary.  Just  why  separate  conferences 
were  not  given  them  in  the  free  States  does  not 
appear  on  the  surface.  Those  who  were  in  authority 
at  that  time  no  doubt  had  good  and  sufficient 
reasons  for  not  granting  the  privilege  of  member- 
ship with  white  ministers  in  the  annual  conferences 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  separate  conferences  on  the 
other  hand.  While  it  does  not  appear  that  it  would 
h^^ve  been  wisdom  to  have  granted  them  the  latter 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     115 

in  the  slave  States,  we  submit,  now,  without  ques- 
tioning the  wisdom  displayed  by  those  godly  fathers. 
Those  who  wish  to  speculate  may  do  so;  we  are 
satisfied.     All  this  but  declares 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen; 
Yet  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 


116  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

CHAPTER   VI. 

DURING  THE  WAR. 

THE  Abolition  Church!  If  there  was  any  one 
denomination  of  Christians  in  this  country, 
north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,  that  was  anathe- 
matized beyond  another,  declared  by  many  in  the 
South  one  of  the  most  forward  instigators  and  abettors 
of  the  late  Civil  War,  it  was  the  *' Northern"  or 
"Abolition  Methodist  Church,"  as  they  called  our 
Church.  Well  do  I  remember  the  "yarns"  told  by 
the  soldiers  of  General  Sterling  Price's  army  on  a 
preacher  they  captured  from  the  Union  soldiers  in 
Missouri.  The  preacher  was  a  noble  specimen,  and 
looked  more  like  a  Norman  king  than  any  of  those 
about  him.  This  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Avas 
terribly  abused  by  his  captors.  Not  so  much,  as 
they  said,  because  he  was  a  Union  soldier — that  was 
bad  enough — but  he  belonged  to  the  "Northern" 
or  "Abolition  Methodist  Church."  "The  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South  " — or  as  it  is,  and  was, 
better  known  as  "  The  Southern  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  " — is  a  relative  term  or  name.  It  was 
natural,  therefore,  for  the  Southern  Confederacy  to 
adopt  it,  and  grant  it  a  kind  of  supremacy  above 
every  other  denomination.  Did  it  not  lead  the 
secession  movement  in  favor  of  slavery  ?  It  is  no 
stretch   of  imagination  to  say  some  people  united 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      117 

with  it  for  that  very  reason.  It  was  to  have  been 
expected  tliat  the  two  Churches,  wherever  they  met, 
would  sustain  the  same  relations  that  the  Jews  and 
Samaritans  used  to  sustain  to  each  other.  It  was 
impossible  to  expect  anything  less  than  bitter  oppo- 
sition to  the  "  Northern  Church."  There  was  a 
time  in  the  South  when  he  who  spoke  favorably 
of  our  Church  was  not  only  suspected  as  a  "  lover 
of  niggers,"  but  one  to  be  "let  alone,"  for  all 
intents  and  purposes,  as  a  traitor.  That  times  have 
changed  but  very  little  in  the  South  along  these 
lines,  but  few  doubt. 

If  there  never  comes  another  time  and  cause 
when  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  will  interest 
herself  in  the  politics  of  this  country,  no  sane 
person  will  deny  the  fact  that  she  was  so  interested 
when  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  human  slavery 
.was  being  discussed,  and  while  the  Civil  War  was 
being  waged.  If  there  has  never  been  a  time  when 
"the  two  branches  of  Methodism"  hung  on  exactly 
opposite  sides  of  the  parent  tree  with  about  equal 
weight  since  the  secession  of  1844  until  the  Civil 
War  began,  they  occupied  the  above-named  attitude 
during  the  bloody  scenes  of  those  four  years.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  as  such,  sup- 
ported the  Confederacy,  while  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  supported  the  Union.  And  now  if 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  closed  her 
doors  that  the  pastor  might  lead  his  official  lay 
members  into  the  war — praying,  preaching,  singing, 


118  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

and  fighting  every  day  of  the  week  and  Sunday, 
too — the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  did  as  much 
to  counteract  this.  The  evidence  of  this  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  for  upwards  of  twenty  years — ever 
since  the  secession  of  1844  to  1864 — the  Metliodist 
Episcopal  Church  had  been  practically  excluded 
from  the  South,  and  only  ventured  to  plant  outposts 
along  the  border  States,  where  she  found  admittance 
by  some  compromises  to  the  conservative  element 
that  came  to  her  there.  Not  only  so,  but  President 
Lincoln  declared  it  "no  fault  of  other  denomina- 
tions that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  fur- 
nished more  money  and  men  to  suppress  the  Rebell- 
ion." As  a  rule  our  bishops  and  ministers  and 
membership,  wherever  they  went,  preached,  lectured, 
exhorted,  and  prayed  for  the  overthrow  of  the  ter- 
rible slavery  that  bound  hand  and  foot  four  and 
a  half  million  human  beings  in  a  bondage  more^ 
terrible  than  that  of  Pharaoh  and  more  demoralizing 
than  that  of  the  Russian  empire.  It  was  said  of  one 
of  our  bishops :  "  Throughout  the  late  war  Bishop 
Simpson  did  much  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  and  to  nerve  the  spirit  of  the  nation 
to  endure  any  sacrifice  for  the  cause  of  the  Union." 
The  class  of  men  elected  to  General  Conference 
positions  at  the  General  Conference  of  1860,  showed 
unmistakably  the  attitude  of  our  Church  toward 
slavery  and  the  war.  Her  standing  rule  that  "  non- 
slaveholding  "  henceforth  was  to  be  one  of  the  con- 
ditions of  membership  in  the  Church,  the  periodi- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.    119 

cals  of  the  Church  being  put  in  the  hands  of 
anti-slavery  editors  were  straws  in  the  wind. 
Everybody  knows  that  Dr.  Daniel  Wise  was  con- 
sidered "an  offensive  partisan"  on  the  question  of 
slavery.  Dr.  Whedon,  who  was  barely  elected  at 
the  General  Conference  of  1856  because  of  his 
radicalism,  was  at  this  General  Conference  (1860) 
unanimously  re-elected  editor  of  our  Quarterly  Re- 
view. When  that  General  Conference  adjourned  it 
was  plainly  to  be  seen  that  our  Church  had  put  on 
ecclesiastical  war-paint,  and  was  therefore  prepared 
to  push  the  battle  of  human  freedom  to  the  gate. 
If  any  one  doubts  this,  proof  is  forthcoming  in  the 
fact  that,  the  conservative  element  in  our  Church 
seeing  the  status  of  affairs,  a  newspaper,  known  as 
The  Methodist,  was  established  by  them  in  New 
York  City.  The  following  March,  when  the  Balti- 
more Annual  Conference  met,  it  resolved,  by  a  unani- 
mous vote,  that  it  was  "  determined  not  to  hold  con- 
nection with  any  ecclesiastical  body  that  makes 
non-slaveholding  a  condition  of  membership  in  the 
Church."  Indeed,  so  high  did  opposition  to  the 
position  the  Church  had  taken  on  slavery  rise,  that 
another  secession,  similar  to  that  of  1844,  came 
near  taking  place.  When  Rev.  Mr.  Hedrick  was 
presented  by  the  Baltimore  Conference  for  ordina- 
tion to  Bishop  Scott,  he  publicly  excepted  the  new 
chapter  on  slavery.  Bishop  Scott  then  arose  and  said : 
"  I  regard  myself  restrained  from  ordaining  any  one 
who  declines  to  take  upon  him  the  ordination  vows 


120  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

without  qualification  or  exception.  Hence,  I  can 
not  ordain  Mr.  Hedrick."  Tliis  caused  considerable 
commotion,  but  the  bishop  stood  like  the  rock  of 
Gibraltar.  "There  were  giants  in  those  days"  all 
about  him,  whose  reputation  for  wisdom  and  in- 
fluence was  enviable.  The  lay  conference  was  in 
session  at  the  same  time  in  the  city.  When  they 
were  informed  of  the  refusal  of  Bishop  Scott  to 
ordain  Mr.  Hedrick,  and  the  reasons  given,  they 
took  action  declaring  a  disposition  to  ignore  the 
entire  subject  of  slavery  in  the  Discipline.  When 
it  is  remembered  what  class  of  people  our  Method- 
ism claims  in  the  State  of  Maryland ;  their  means, 
influence,  and  their  disposition  to  lead  matters, -since 
it  (Baltimore)  may  be  considered  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal cradles  of  Methodism,  and  has  all  along  been 
in  the  van.  of  Methodist  movements ^  that  some  of 
the  most  influential,  eloquent,  and  popular  men  in  * 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  "were  born  in 
her,"  it  adds  intensity  and  alarm  to  the  situation. 
But  Bishop  Scott,  like  most  of  our  bishops,  knew 
the  heart  of  the  Church ;  knew  that  he  was  in  full 
accord  with  the  Church  on  the  question  of  slavery, 
and  therefore  the  Lord  was  on  his  side,  and  stood  like 
Martin  Luther  before  the  Diet  at  Worms,  trusting 
in  God.  When  such  an  expression  of  opinion  on 
the  question  of  slavery  was  given  by  "the  sinews 
of  war'' — the  laymen — it  was  an  inspiration  to  the 
clerical  brethren  of  the  Baltimore  Annual  Confer- 
ence.    The  soul  of  Bishop  Scott  was  severely  taxed, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      121 

the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  disturbed, 
while  the  very  air  seemed  laden  with  dust  from 
the  recent  conflict,  and  more  especially  when  the 
Baltimore  Annual  Conference  responded  to  the  ex- 
pression of  opinion  given  by  the  lay  conference,  by 
declaring  in  open  conference  :  "  If  three-fourths  of 
all  the  annual  conferences  will,  within  the  year 
1861,  agree  with  us,  we  agree  with  the  action  of  the 
laymen  and  the  Baltimore  Conference,  and  will  not 
reunite  with  them  in  Church  fellowship."  When 
this  was  presented  to  the  conference,  Bishop  Scott 
announced  that  he  could  not  entertain  a  motion  con- 
templating a  division  of  the  Church.  He  per- 
mitted the  secretary.  Rev.  J.  S.  Martin,  to  put  the 
question.  But  when  the  bishop  came  to  the  chair 
he  ordered  the  following  paper  spread  upon  the 
journal : 

"The  whole  action  just  had  on  what  is  called 
the  'Norval  Wilson  propositions'  is,  in  my  judg- 
ment, in  violation  of  the  order  and  Discipline  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  therefore  is 
nnll  and  void,  regarded  as  conference  action.  I, 
therefore,  do  not  recognize  such  action  as  infracting 
the  integrity  of  this  body,  and  so  I  shall  proceed  to 
finish  the  business  of  the  present  session. 

"Levi  Scott." 

The  East  Baltimore  Conference  was  also  on  the 
eve  of  seceding,  while  the  Philadelphia  Conference 
signified  its  willingness,  by  a  vote  of  174  to  35,  to 
have  the   Rule  on   Slavery  changed.     These   facts 

11 


122  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

were  enough  in  themselves  to  cause  the  South  to 
look  askant  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  probably  caused  the  Church  to  be  nicknamed 
"the  Abolition  Church." 

By  this  time  the  rumors  of  war  had  reached 
a  climax.  We  find  a  proper  description  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  historian  Ridpath,  who,  in  speaking  of 
the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter  by  the  rebels,  says : 

"  The  news  of  this  startling  event  went  through 
the  country  like  a  flame  of  fire.  There  had  been 
some  expectation  of  violence,  but  the  actual  shock 
came  like  a  clap  of  thunder.  The  people  of  the 
towns  poured  into  the  streets,  and  the  country  folk 
flocked  to  the  villages  to  gather  the  tidings  and  to 
comment  on  the  coming  conflict.  Gray-haired  men 
talked  gravely  of  the  deed  that  was  done,  and 
prophesied  of  its  consequences.  Public  opinion, 
both  in  the  North  and  the  vSouth,  was  rapidly  con- 
solidated. Three  days  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter, 
President  Lincoln  issued  a  call  for  seventy-five 
thousand  volunteers  to  serve  three  months  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  secession  movement.  On  the 
19th  of  April,  when  the  first  regiments  of  Massa- 
chusetts volunteers  were  passing  through  Baltimore, 
on  their  way  to  Washington,  they  were  fired  upon 
by  the  citizens  and  three  men  killed." 

The  sounds  of  preparation  for  war  were  heard 
in  every  direction.  No  less  spirit  was  being  mani- 
fested throughout  the  Methodist  J^piscopal  Church. 
And   yet,   notwithstanding  the   fact  that   the  Bal- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      123 

timore  Ailnual  Conference  withdrew  by  resolution 
from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  because  the 
Church  stood  up  for  the  poor  slave,  not  a  single 
compromise  at  that  time  was  made  by  the  Church 
with  slavery.  To  get  some  idea  of  the  condition 
of  affairs  at  the  time,  or  directly  thereafter,  when 
Bishop  Levi  Scott  stood  up  in  the  face  of  the 
whole  world  and  let  his  light  so  shine  that  men  might 
see  his  good  works  and  those  of  the  Church  he 
represented,  when  he  declined  to  ordain  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Hedrick  in  the  presence  of  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, we  quote  the  language  of  a  man  whom 
every  colored  man  and  most  good  white  men  love  to 
honor — Gilbert  Haven,  D.  D. — who  says  in  his 
description  of  the  "  First  War  Sunday :" 

"That  Sabbath-day's  journey  ought  to  be  chron- 
icled. We  marched  through  saintly  Boston  in  the 
gray  twilight  to  the  tune  of  'Yankee  Doodle.' 
All  along  the  route  cannons  and  bells,  bands 
and  flags  and  waving  handkerchiefs,  soldiers  and 
crowds  upon  crowds,  gave  us  a  hearty  hail  and 
farewell.  At  Hartford  we  were  told  the  women 
were  all  at  home  driving  their  sewing-machines,  and 
the  men  busy  making  cartridges  for  their  troops. 
All  the  town  left  their  churches  and  gathered 
around  the  depot,  where  they  had  had  preaching 
and  singing  while  waiting  for  us.  They  had  also 
provided  refreshments  enough  fo*r  five  thousand 
persons,  and  plied  us  with  sweetmeats  and  benedic- 
tions.    The  force  of  the  fever  could  go  no  farther." 


124  TEE  COLORED  MAN. 

The  colored  mau  from  one  end  of  this  country 
to  the  other  had  always  recognized  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  as  a  friend  to  him  and  his,  a 
friend  whose  sympathies  were  worth  a  great  deal. 
But  whenever  he  was  reminded  that  it  was  "  The 
Abolition  Church"  and  one  of  the  prime  causes  of 
the  war — which  was  usually  taught  him  whenever  the 
poor,  deluded  colored  men  imagined,  as  they  would 
naturally  at  times,  that  the  war  imposed  additional 
hardships  and  burdens — he  sometimes  shuddered. 
But  Mhen  the  Union  forces  went  South,  and  any 
of  the  colored  people  were  seen,  they  usually  spoke 
kindly  to  them.  If  about  religious  matters,  they 
usually  found  the  colored  man  either  a  Baptist  or 
a  Methodist.  If  the  latter,  and  the  interlocutor, 
or  any  one  of  the  company,  was  a  Methodist,  the 
poor  colored  man  learned  of  the  interest  the 
Church  was  taking  in  his  welfare  and  liberation. 
When  colored  men  ran  within  the  Federal  lines, 
they  never  failed  to  find  the  chaplain  or  some  one 
of  the  company  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
who  deeply  sympathized  with  him,  and  did  all  pos- 
sible to  make  him  comfortable.  While  all  this  was 
true,  another  aspect  presented  itself. 

THE    ATTITUDE    OF    THE    CHURCH    AS    SEEN    BY 
GENERAL   CONFERENCE   ACTION. 

It  was  not  enough  that  the  General  Conference 
had  repeatedly  stood  forth  the  friend  of  the  Union, 
but  individual  conferences  gave  no  uncertain  sound 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     125 

at  that  time.  It  is  almost  literally  true  that  the 
hitherto  unmistakable  factional  lines  within  the 
Church  faded  so  much  that  the  anti-slavery,  con- 
servative, and  radical  elements  united  in  some  sort, 
for  the  purpose  of  rallying  to  the  national  standard 
to  find  shelter  beneath  "  the  Star-spangled  Banner." 
The  New  York  East  Conference  in  April,  18G1, 
led  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Inskip,  unanimously  declared  its 
unqualified  sympathy  and  support  of  the  govern- 
ment in  its  defense  of  the  Constitution.  In  June 
of  the  same  year  the  New  York  Conference  fol- 
lowed, led  on  by  the  manly  report  submitted  through 
Rev.  J.  B.  Wakeley,  on  the  State  of  the  Country. 
In  that  report  was  delineated,  in  unmistakable 
language,  "  the  formation  of  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy ,.  .  .  its  seizure  of  the  forts,  mints,  custom- 
houses, vessels,  and  arms  of  the  United  States,  .  .  . 
and  unnatural  war  against  the  government."  And 
the  report  went  on  and  patriotically  declared :  "  No 
treasure  is  too  costly,  no  sacrifice  too  great,  no  time 
too  long,  to  put  down  treason  and  traitors,  and  to 
place  our  Union  on  a  rock  so  solid  that  neither 
enemies  abroad  nor  traitors  at  home  can  move  it." 
Indeed,  so  arrogant  and  flagrant  had  the  unpunished 
(Crimes  of  the  slave  oligarchy  become,  that  the  East 
Baltimore  Conference  in  March,  1862,  by  a  vote  of 
132  yeas  to  15  nays — led  on  by  Revs.  A.  A.  Reese 
and  G.  D.  Chenoweth — not  only  expressed  its 
"abhorrence  of  the  rebellion,"  but  declared,  "We 
approve  and  indorse  the  present  wise  and  patriotic 


126  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Administration,  and  in  the  inculcation  of  loyal  prin- 
ciples and  sentiments  we  recognize  the  pulpit  and 
press  as  legitimate  instrumentalities."  Not  only  so, 
but  the  Philadelphia  Conference,  in  March  of  that 
same  year,  received  and  unanimously  adopted  the 
report  of  their  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Country 
as  presented  by  the  chairman.  Rev.  Charles  Cook, 
which  affirmed  :  "  We  do  hereby  express  our  utter 
abhorrence  and  opposition  to  the  present  rebellion, 
being  the  offspring  of  treason,  .  .  .  and  that 
we  pledge  our  influence  to  encourage  and  assist  the 
army  and  navy,  to  protect  the  honor  of  our  flag, 
the  integrity  of  the  Constituion,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  our  glorious  Union."  The  New  Jersey 
Conference  followed  with  equally  patriotic  reso- 
lutions. 

MEMORIALIZING  CONGRESS. 

As  if  afraid  its  influence  would  not  be  potent 
enough  by  its  General  and  annual  conference  action 
on  the  question  of  slavery,  several  of  the  annual 
conferences  sent  up  memorials  to  Congress  and  to 
President  Lincoln.  The  New  York  East  Confer- 
ence— when  the  bill  freeing  "slaves  used  for  insur- 
rectionary purposes"  was  approved,  August  6,  1861, 
and  another  forbidding  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves 
by  persons  in  the  army,  March  13, 1862,  and  the  abol- 
ishment of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  by 
Congress,  April  16,  1862 — adopted  a  report  drawn 
up  by  James  Floy,  which  declared  "  the  system  of 


TUE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      127 

American  slavery  is  evidently,  in  the  good  providence 
of  God,  destined  soon  to  come  to  an  end;  that  the 
recent  action  of  our  national  authorities,  by  which 
the  nation  has  been  unequivocally  committed  to  the 
cause  of  freedom,  meets  with  our  entire  approba- 
tion." The  same  body,  with  the  New  York  Confer- 
ence, in  1864,  memorialized  Congress,  praying  the 
enactment  of  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  for 
the  abolishment  of  slavery  a  year  and  a  half  or 
more  before  it  was  done.  The  New  England  Con- 
ference sent  up  the  following,  which,  for  historic 
accuracy,  prophetic  ken,  and  loyalty  to  the  cause 
of  human  freedom,  has  rarely  been  surpassed,  and 
will  stand  in  the  forefront  of  the  reputation  of 
that  conference  for  level-headedness  and  right  doing. 
We  here  reproduce  it : 

"After  thirty  years  of  exciting  but  healthful  agi- 
tation on  the  subject  of  slavery,  the  present  aspects 
of  our  cause  furnish  abundant  motive  for  devout 
thanksgiving  to  God.  The  two  antagonistic  tend- 
encies of  public  sentiment  existing  and  increasing 
in  the  nation  for  so  many  years,  have  at  length 
reached  their  legitimate  crisis  of  mutual  and  final 
conflict,  of  which  the  issue  can  not  bo  doubtful. 
By  its  own  diabolical  act  [slavery]  has  been  placed 
in  a  position  where  it  can  claim  no  constitutional 
protection,  and  where  there  is  no  prudential  motive 
for  its  retention ;  and  the  voice  of  the  people, 
which  evidently  coincides  with  the  voice  of  God, 
says :  '  Let  it  perish !'     In  the  Church  the  progress 


128  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  has  been  equally  grati- 
fying. Instead  of  a  continued  and  meager  minority 
which  regarded  slavery  as  a  sin,  a  great  majority  of 
the  representative  assemblies  of  the  Church  register 
their  solemn  verdict  of  its  criminal  character,  and 
demand  that  it  shall  cease,  not  only  in  the  min- 
istry, but  in  the  whole  membership." 

The  Black  River  Conference  also  gave  no  uncer- 
tain sound  when  it  declared :  "  The  signs  of  the 
times  give  evidence  that  the  hitherto  dominant 
and  domineering  slave  power  is  rapidly  approaching 
its  end,  and  even  now  we  may  witness  its  horrible 
death-throe.  The  time  is  rapidly  approaching  when 
the  last  fetter  w\\\  be  broken,  and  the  last  bond- 
man be  released." 

Of  all  the  above  and  many  more  conferences  that 
took  action  in  support  of  the  Union,  none  of  them 
is  more  worthy  of  honor  because  of  the  action 
taken  than  the  Central  Ohio,  which  adopted  reso- 
lutions as  early  as  1861  contemplating  a  procla- 
mation of  emancipation  as  the  only  conceivable 
solution  of  our  national  difficulties.  The  Christum 
Advocate  of  October  following,  reports  the  action 
taken  by  said  conference  at  its  session  in  Gre'en- 
ville,  September  22,  1862  : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  believe  that  the  time  has 
fully  come  that,  from  a  military  necessity  for  the 
safety  of  the  country,  such  a  proclamation  should 
be  made ;  and  we  earnestly  beseech  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  proclaim  the  emaucipation 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      129 

of  all  slaves  held  in  the  United  States,  paying 
loyal  men  a  reasonable  compensation  for  their 
slaves." 

This  was,  by  order  of  the  conference,  forwarded 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States.  But  before 
it  reached  him,  as  if  verifying  God's  promise,  "Call, 
and  while  you  are  galling,  I  Avill  answer,"  the 
President  issued  September  22,  1862,  the  Proclama- 
tion, to  take  effect  January  1,  1863.  This  Procla- 
mation was  not  intended  to  free  all  the  slaves,  but 
only  affected  "all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any 
State,  or  any  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people 
whereof  shall  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863."  Hence 
it  only  reached  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Louisiana — 
leaving  out  some  parishes  —  Texas,  Mississippi, 
Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  North  and  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Virginia,  in  all  of  which  States  and  parts 
of  States  all  slaves  were  henceforth  to  be  free. 
Other  exceptions,  such  as  parts  of  Virginia,  Mis- 
souri, Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Dela- 
ware, and  Maryland  were  also  included  in  the 
above,  leaving  the  slaves  in  the  non-designated 
parts  in  slavery. 


130  THE  COLORED  MAN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  GENERAI,  CONFERENCE  OF  1864. 

ALMOST  one  year  after  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  took  effect  by  reason  of  the  re- 
fusal on  the  part  of  the  South  to  return  to  the 
Union,  the  nineteenth  session  of  the  General  Con- 
ference met  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  That  body 
was  composed  of  two  hundred  and  sixteen  dele- 
gates. Just  how  any  body  of  men,  whether  met  for 
political  or  religious  interests,  could  properly  attend 
to  affairs,  even  to  the  minutife,  under  the  then  ex- 
isting circumstances  of  so  exciting  character  as 
those  that  occurred  from  May  1*,  1864,  until  the 
adjournment  of  that  General  Conference,  is  hard  to 
conceive.  And  yet  the  proceedings  of  that  body 
were  characterized  by  patient,  wise,  and  prudent 
action.  Some  of  the  delegates  to  that  General 
Conference  had  their  thoughts,  however  hard  they 
strove  to  prevent  it,  on  Church  interests  upset,  as 
they  took  up  the  newspapers  and  found  an  account 
of  the  atrocious  butchery  of  colored  troops  at  Fort 
Pillow  by  that  enemy  of  the  human  family,  Gen- 
eral Forrest.  Before  leaving  the  cars  upon  which 
they  were  traveling,  they  were  startled  by  the  cry 
of  the  newsboys  at  every  station,  as  they  announced 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      131 

the  startling  news  that  the  governors  of  the  West- 
ern States  had  offered  the  United  States  govern- 
ment eighty-five  thousand  men  for  one  hundred 
days,  and  that  the  President  had  accepted  the  offer ; 
again,  that  the  victory  was  still  in  the  scales. 
They  had  been  in  session  but  four  days  until  the 
wires  flashed  the  news  that  the  irrepressible  Grant 
had  crossed  the  Rapidau  in  Virginia,  and  com- 
menced operations  iu  the  Wilderness !  The  next 
day  news  came  that  the  armies  of  the  North  and 
South  had  met  in  the  Wilderness — the  former  under 
that  invincible  hero,  and  the  latter  under  the  in- 
trepid Lee.  Since  our  own  Grant  was  pushing  Lee 
before  him  nearly  everywhere,  and  knowing  how 
the  Church  had  begun  to  love  General  Grant,  and 
that  her  prayers  aud  influence  and  sons  were  with 
him  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  it  is  pretty 
hard  to  understand  just  how  that  General  Confer- 
ence found  time  and  disposition  to  work  as  it  did. 
Its  session  was  during  the  crisis  of  the  war.  As 
they  understood  it,  "God  expects  every  man  to  do 
his  best,"  and  they  had  then  an  opportunity  to 
view  the  whole  scene,  knowing  that  God  himself 
was  interested,  since 

"  Right  forever  on  the  scaffold, 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne; 
But  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 

And  behind  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  tlie  shadows, 

Keeping  watch  above  his  own." 


132  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

So  it  was  on  the  gory  field  of  battle  as  well  as 
in  that  General  Conference. 

"The  conference  adopted  a  new  rule  on  slavery, 
by  a  vote  of  207  yeas  to  9  nays.  The  small  mi- 
nority of  dissenters  were  delegates  from  within  the 
then  slaveholding  States  of  West  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, and  Kentucky — so  that  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  alone,  of  all  the  Churches  in  America, 
within  whose  communion  slaveholding  had  been 
allowed,  enacted  a  prohibitory  law  abolishing  slavery, 
even  within  the  States  where  it  was  allowed  to 
continue  by  President  Lincoln's  Proclamation  of 
1863.  Moving  forward  on  the  same  line,  in  advance 
of  all  the  Churches,  the  same  body,  already  more 
sweeping  in  its  prohibition  of  slavery  than  the  civil 
authorities,  yet  further  anticipated  the  action  of  the 
government  in  a  formal  address  to  the  President." 

At  that  General  Conference  the  special  Com- 
mittee appointed  on  the  State  of  the  Country 
reported  as  follows : 

"The  committee  have  carefully  considered  the 
following  subject,  submitted  to  them  by  the  General 
Conference,  namely : 

"Whereas,  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  the  first  to  tender  its 
allegiance  to  the  government  under  the  Constitution 
in  the  days  of  Washington ;  and  ivhereas,  the 
fair  record  of  the  Church  has  never  been  tarnished 
by  disloyalty ;  and  whereas,  our  ministers  and 
people  are  deeply  in  sympathy  with  the  government 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     133 

in  its  efforts  to  put  down  rebellion  and  set  the 
captives  free ;  therefore, 

'' Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  ap- 
pointed, whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  proceed  to  Wash- 
ington to  present  to  the  President  of  these  United 
States  the  assurances  of  our  Church,  in  a  suitable 
address,  that  we  are  with  him  in  heart  and  soul  in 
the  present  struggle  for  human  rights  and  free 
institutions. 

"The  committee,  after  further  consideration  of 
the  subject  of  the  delegation  it  is  proposed  to  send 
with  an  address  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  beg  leave  to  report  that  they  have  instructed 
their  chairman  to  present,  for  the  approval  of  the 
General  Conference,  the  address  contemplated  in  the 
resolution  referred  for  consideration.  The  com- 
mittee still  further  report  that  they  have  nomi- 
nated as  the  delegation.  Bishop  E.  R.  Ames,  Rev. 
George  Peck,  Rev.  Joseph  Cummings,  Rev.  Charles 
Elliott,  Rev.  Granville  Moody." 

On  motion  of  Thomas  C.  Golden,  seconded  by 
K.  P.  Jervis,  the  report  was  adopted.  The  com- 
mittee at  once  began  to  prepare  the  address,  and 
in  due  time  the  following  was  presented : 

"To  His  Excellency,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Peesidknt  of  the 
United  States: 

"  The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  now  in  session  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, representing   nearly  seven    thousand  min- 


134  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

isters,  and  nearly  a  million  of  members,  mindful 
of  their  duty  as  Christian  citizens,  take  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  express  to  you  the  assurance  of  the 
loyalty  of  the  Church,  her  earnest  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  the  country,  and  her  sympathy  with 
you  in  the  great  responsibilities  of  your  high  posi- 
tion in  this  trying  hour. 

"With  exultation  we  point  to  the  record  of  our 
Church  as  having  never  been  tarnished  by  dis- 
loyalty. She  was  the  first  of  the  Churches  to  ex- 
press, by  a  deputation  of  her  most  distinguished 
ministers,  the  promise  of  support  to  the  govern- 
ment in  the  days  of  Washington,  In  her  Articles 
of  Religion  she  has  enjoined  loyalty  as  a  duty,  and 
has  ever  given  to  the  government  her  most  decided 
support. 

"In  this  present  struggle  for  the  nation's  life 
many  thousands  of  her  members,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  her  ministers,  have  rushed  to  arms  to  main- 
tain the  cause  of  God  and  humanity.  They  have 
sealed  their  devotion  to  their  country  with  their 
blood  on  every  battle-field  of  this  terrible  war. 

"  We  regard  this  dreadful  scourge  now  desolating 
our  land  and  wasting  the  nation's  life,  as  the  result 
of  a  most  unnatural,  utterly  unjustifiable  rebellion, 
involving  the  crime  of  treason  against  the  best  of 
human  governments,  and  sin  against  God.  It  re- 
quired our  government  to  submit  to  its  own  dis- 
memberment and  destruction,  leaving  it  no  alter- 
native but  to  preserve  the  national  integrity  by  the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CUVRCH.      135 

use  of  the  national  resources.  If  the  government 
had  failed  to  use  its  power  to  preserve  the  unity 
of  the  nation  and  maintain  its  authority,  it  would 
have  been  justly  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  heaven 
and  t<5  the  reproach  and  scorn  of  the  civilized 
world.  Our  earnest  and  constant  prayer  is  that 
this  cruel  and  wicked  rebellion  may  be  speedily 
suppressed ;  and  we  pledge  you  our  hearty  co-opera- 
tion in  all  appropriate  means  to  secure  this  object. 

"Loyal  and  hopeful  in  national  adversity,  in 
prosperity  thankful,  we  most  heartily  congratulate 
you  on  the  glorious  victories  recently  gained,  and 
rejoice  in  the  belief  that  our  complete  triumph 
is  near. 

"We  believe  that  our  national  sorrows  and  ca- 
lamities have  resulted,  in  a  great  degree,  from  our 
forgetful ness  of  God  and  oppression  of  our  fellow- 
men.  Chastened  by  affliction,  may  the  nation  hum- 
bly repent  of  her  sins,  lay  aside  her  haughty  pride, 
honor  God  in  all  her  future  legisTation,  and  render 
justice  to  all  who  have  been  wronged ! 

"We  honor  you  for  your  proclamations  of  lib- 
erty, and  rejoice  in  all  the  acts  of  the  government 
designed  to  secure  freedom  to  the  enslaved. 

"We  trust  that  when  military  usages  and  neces- 
sities shall  justify  interference  with  established  insti- 
tutions, and  the  removal  of  wrongs  sanctioned  by 
law,  the  occasion  will  be  improved,  not  merely  to 
injure  our  foes  and  increase  the  national  resources, 
but  also  as  an  opportunity  to  recognize  our  obliga- 


136  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

tions  to  God  and  to  honor  his  law.  We  pray  that 
the  time  may  speedily  come  when  this  shall  be 
truly  a  republican  and  free  country,  in  no  part  of 
which,  either  State  or  Territory,  shall  slavery  be 
known. 

"The  prayers  of  millions  of  Christians,  with 
an  earnestness  never  manifested  for  rulers  before, 
daily  ascend  to  Heaven  that  you  may  be  endued 
with  all  needed  wisdom  and  power.  Actuated  by 
the  sentiments  of  the  loftiest  and  purest  patriotism, 
our  prayers  shall  be  continually  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  country  undivided,  for  the  triumph 
of  our  cause,  and  for  a  permanent  peace,  gained 
by  sacrifice  of  no  moral  principles,  but  founded 
on  the  Word  of  God,  and  securing,  in  righteous- 
ness, liberty  and  equal  rights  to  all. 

"  Signed  in  behalf  the  General  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

"Joseph  Cummings,  Chairman. 

"Philadelphia,  May  14,  1864." 

To  this  address  the  President  responded : 
"  Gentlemen, — In  reply  to  your  address,  allow 
me  to  attest  the  accuracy  of  its  historical  state- 
ments, indorse  the  sentiments  it  expresses,  and 
thank  you  in  the  nation's  name  for  the  sure  promise 
it  gives. 

"Nobly  sustained  as  the  government  has  been 
by  all  the  Churches,  I  would  utter  nothing  which 
might  in  the  least  appear  invidious  against  any;  yet, 
without  this,  it  may  be  fairly  said  that  the  Meth- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     137 

odist  Episcopal  Church,  not  less  devoted  than  the 
best,  is,  by  its  greater  numbers,  the  most  important 
of  all.  It  is  no  fault  in  others  that  the  Meth- 
odist Church  sends  more  soldiers  to  the  field,  more 
nurses  to  the  hospitals,  and  more  prayers  to  Heaven, 
than  any.  God  bless  the  Methodist  Church  !  Bless 
all  the  Churches!  And  blessed  be  God,  who,  in 
this  our  great  trial,  giveth  us  the  Churches! 

"A.  Lincoln." 
Memorials  were  sent  up  to  this  General  Confer- 
ence, also  asking  for  a  colored  pastorate  and  confer- 
ence organization.  Several  petitions  from  the  colored 
members  within  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the 
States  of  Delaware  and  Maryland  were  presented, 
praying  for  this.  The  wisdom  of  the  petitioners  is 
best  seen  by  noting  the  fact  that  most  of  the  best 
work  among  the  colored  people  within  the  Church 
is  in  the  bounds  of  the  territory  from  whence  came 
most  petitions  for  a  colored  pastorate  and  separate 
conferences.  The  Church  began  to  see  a  new  door 
open  at  the  sesame  of  belching  cannons  for  her  ad- 
mission into  the  South.  She  then  declared :  ^'  As  a 
Church  we  have  never  sought,  do  not  now  seek,  to 
ignore  our  duty  to  the  colored  population."  And 
besides  this,  the  Church  at  that  conference  declared : 
"Justice  to  those  who  have  been  enslaved  requires 
that  in  all  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  as  well  as 
in  all  the  other  rights  of  a  common  manhood,  there 
shall  be  no  distinction  founded  on  color."  These 
were  strong  words  at  that   early  day,  and   meant 

12 


138  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

what  the  Church  has  been  teaching  ever  since. 
That  General  Conference  created  a  special  com- 
mittee to  look  after  the  interests,  hear  the  appeals, 
consider  what  ought  to  be  done  by  that  conference 
to  further  the  work  among  the  colored  members 
It  was  known  as  "the  Committee  on  the  State  of 
tiiu  Worlv  among  the  Colored  People,"  to  whom  all 
such  petitions  and  memorials  were  referred.  This 
was  not  one  of  the  regular  standing  committees, 
but  a  special  one  appointed  for  the  occasion.  After 
the  General  Conference  had  been  in  possession  of. 
said  petitions  and  memorials  two  weeks  or  more,  they 
submitted  a  report,  in  which  they  said  that  they  based 
their  report  on  "direct  information  from  delegates  to 
the  General  Conference  familiar  with  the  work ;  from 
intelligent  and  trustworthy  local  preachers  who 
have  been  deputed  by  the  colored  charges  in  Dela- 
ware and  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia 
to  represent  them  before  the  committee,  and  from 
various  memorials  setting  forth  the  wishes  of  our 
colored  members." 

That  the  Church  trusted  and  desired  to  honor 
her  sable  sons,  no  one  doubts.  That  she  was  proud 
of  feeling  herself  loved  by  them,  and  an  instrument 
in  God's  hands  of  helping  to  uplift  them,  is  told  in 
the  following  expression  of  that  conference  :  "  If  it 
be  a  principle  potent  to  Christian  enterprise  that 
the  missionary  field  itself  must  produce  the  most 
efficient  missionaries,  our  colored  local  preachers  are 
peculiarly    important    to    us    at    this    time."     The 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      139 

memorialists  were  filled  with  ecstasy  when  the  com- 
mittee reported  the  following: 

COLORED    PASTORATE. 

"(1.)  Our  colored  members,  ministers,  and  lay- 
men feel  that  the  times  are  auspicious  to  the  devel- 
opment of  their  mental  and  moral  power,  and 
request  from  us  the  facilities  necessary  to  this  end. 

"  (2.)  A  colored  pastorate  they  recognize  as 
among  the  most  important  of  these  facilities,  secur- 
ing to  them  a  ministry  adapted  to  their  wants, 
encouraging  their  young  men  to  enter  the  minis- 
terial field,  and  offering  motive  and  opportunity  for 
general  ministerial  advancement. 

''  (3.)  They  do  not,  however,  propose  to  secure 
this  by — indeed,  they  are  utterly  opposed  to — sep- 
aration from  our  Church,  either  with  a  view  to  a 
union  with  another,  or  to  independent  organization. 
With  such  a  feeling  on  their  part,  the  General  Con- 
ference can  not  consistently  with  its  own  responsi- 
bility, with  their  constitutional  rights,  or  with  any 
decent  recognition  of  their  loyalty  to  our  Church 
in  all  the  troubles  through  which,  on  their  account, 
she  has  passed,  adopt  any  measure  which  shall,  even 
indirectly,  look  to  such  a  result. 

''(4.)  Conference  organization  is  asked  for  from 
two  quarters ;  other  memorials  urge  that  the 
requests  should  be  granted.  The  local  ministers 
who  have  been  before  us  have  shown  deep  solici- 
tude in  this  direction.     .     .     . 


140  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

"  (7.)  From  this  exhibit  of  facts  two  convictions 
are  natural,  namely :  AVe  must  retain  the  oversight 
of  this  people ;  we  must  give  them  efficient  colored 
pastors. 

"  To  retain  these  pastors  as  mere  local  preachers, 
subject  to  appointment  by  white  presiding  elders, 
will  impair  rather  than  increase  their  efficiency  ; 
will  promote  Congregationalism  among  them  rath.er 
than  itinerant  missionary  enterprise. 

"  To  propose  their  incorporation  with  the  exist- 
ing annual  conferences  will  be  attended  with  diffi- 
culties too  formidable  every  way  to  be  readily 
disposed  of,  and  the  delay  incident  to  such  a  prop- 
osition is  incompatible  with  the  urgent  requirements 
of  the  times. 

"In  view  of  these  considerations,  we  recom-. 
mend  to  the  General  Conference  for  adoption  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

"Whereas,  In  the  present  circumstances  of 
our  country,  the  colored  people  occupy  a  position 
of  peculiar  interest,  appealing  to  our  Christian  sym- 
pathy, and  inviting  our  missionary  enterprise ;  and 

"Whereas,  This  enterprise  can  not  now  be 
made  efficient  by  the  policy  of  our  Church  hitherto 
pursued  toward  them,  and  especial  measures  have 
therefore  become  necessary ;  and 

"  Whereas,  The  exigencies  of  the  case  require 
to  efficiency  prompt  action  ;  therefore,  be  it 

"1.  Resolved,  by  the  General  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Conference  assem- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      141 

bled,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  our  Church  to  encour- 
age colored  pastorates  for  colored  people  wherever 
practicable,  and  to  contribute  to  their  efficiency  by 
every  means  in  our  power. 

'*  Resolved,  That  tiie  efficiency  of  said  pastorates 
can  be  best  promoted  by  distinct  conference  organ- 
izations, and  that  therefore  the  bishops  be,  and  they 
are  hereby,  authorized  to  organize  among  our 
colored  ministers,  for  the  benefit  of  our  colored 
members  and  population,  mission  conferences — one 
or  more — where,  in  their  godly  judgment,  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  work  may  demand  it,  and,  should 
more  than  one  be  organized,  to  determine  their 
boundaries  until  the  meeting  of  the  next  General 
Conference,  said  conference  or  conferences  to  possess 
all  the  powers  usual  to  mission  annual  conferences: 
Provided,  that  nothing  in  this  resolutiou  be  so 
construed  as  to  impair  the  existing  constitutional 
rights  of  our  colored  members  on  the  one  hand,  or 
to  forbid,  on  the  other,  the  transfer  of  white  min- 
isters to  said  conference  or  conferences  where  it 
may  be  practicable  and  deemed  necessary. 

"3.  Resolved,  That  our  General  Missionary 
Committee  be  requested  to  take  into  careful  con- 
sideration the  condition  of  our  colored  people,  and 
should  conferences  be  organized  among  them,  make 
to  them — consistently  with  other  demands  upon  its 
funds — such  appropiations  as  may  be  essential  to 
success." 

Annual  or  mission  conferences  being  composed 


142  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  traveling  preachers,  it  was  necessary  that  some 
colored  local  preachers  be  admitted  into  the  travel- 
ing connection  before  they  could  be  formed  into  a 
conference,  which  gave  rise  to  a  question  uj)on 
Avhich  the  same  committee  made  a  report,  which 
was  adopted,  as  follows  (Jour.  1864,  p.  253): 

"  We,  the  committee  to  w^hom  this  subject  was 
finally  referred,  beg  leave  to  report  that  we  are  not 
aware  of  any  legal  obstacle  to  the  reception  of 
colored  preachers  into  our  annual  conferences." 

This  General  Conference  at  a  later  day  made 
more  specific  and  direct  provision  for  the  Delaware 
and  Washington  Conferences  in  the  following  reso- 
lution (Jour.  1864,  p.  263): 

"The  Washington  Conference  shall  embrace 
Western  Maryland,  the  District  of  Columbia,  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  territory  south. 

"The  Delaware  Conference  shall  embrace  the 
territory  north  and  east  of  the  Washington  Con- 
ference. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  order  to  constitute  the  first 
conferences  of  colored  members,  the  rule  of  Dis- 
cipline requiring  a  probation  of  two  years,  be  so 
far  sus])ended  as  to  allow  the  bishops  to  organize 
into  one  or  more  annual  conferences  such  colored 
local  elders  as  have  traveled  two  or  more  years  under 
a  presiding  elder,  and  shall  be  recommended  by  a 
quarterly  conference,  and  by  at  least  ten  elders  who 
are  members  of  an  annual  conference." 

The  Delaware   Conference  was  organized  July 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     143 

28,  1864,  and  the  Washington  Conference  October 
27,  1864.  It  will  be  noted  that  "  the  constitutional 
rights  of  our  colored  members"  were  recognized, 
as  well  as  the  difficulties  of  incorporating  the  work. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  above  resolutions  more 
closely. 

Blessings  seldom  come  unattended.  At  a  glance 
any  one  can  see  that  the  requests  of  the  colored 
members  had  been  granted.  Henceforth  they  were 
to  have  (1)  colored  pastorates,  the  very  thing  for 
which  they  had  prayed.  No  one  doubts,  we  think, 
that  the  granting  of  that  very  thing  gave  birth  to 
all  the  other  race  questions  that  do  or  may  arise 
touching  the  relations  of  the  two  races  within  the 
Church.  The  wisdom  of  that  General  Conference 
peered  away  out  into  the  future.  It  probably  saw  a 
time  when  advanced  ideas  would  lead  men  within 
the  Church  to  advanced  work.  These  pastorates 
created  by  that  General  Conference  were  to  be  for 
"colored  people."  They  were  to  be  allowed  (2) 
separate  conferences.  There  was  no  way  to  avoid 
them  where  there  were  "colored  pastorates  for 
colored  people."  Just  so.  These  separate  confer- 
ences, however,  were  (3)  "not  to  impair  existing 
rights  of  our  colored  members,  nor  yet  (4)  to  forbid 
the  transfer  of  white  ministers  to  said  conferences 
where  it  may  be  practicable  and  deemed  necessary." 
What  "existing  rights"  had  colored  members?  To 
remain  in  any  Church  they  chose  within  Meth- 
odism, or  join  with  and  worship  in  any  congrega- 


144  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

tion  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  It 
did  not  stop  there,  but  action  was  taken  looking  to 
the  education  of  the  race.  The  General  Confer- 
ence Committee  on  Education  reported  as  follows : 

"The  committee  have  had  before  them  the 
memorial  of  Rev.  J.  F.  Wright  in  reference  to  the 
Wilberforce  University,  and,  in  view  of  its  peculiar 
character  and  relation  to  the  Church,  we  offer  for 
adoption  the  following  resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  sympathize  with 
the  noble  purpose  contemplated  in  the  establish- 
ment of  Wilberforce  University  and  we  do  hereby 
earnestly  commend  the  institution  to  the  prayers  and 
liberal  contributions  of  the  friends  of  humanity." 

Just  what  "  the  peculiar  character  and  relation  " 
were,  is  not  stated.  It  may  have  been  that  the 
enterprise  was  sprung  upon  the  Church  before  it 
had  been  duly  authorized.  It  may  have  been  that 
its  "peculiar  character  and  relation"  meant  that 
it  was  to  be  exclusively  colored.  It  makes  no  dif- 
ference as  to  what  was  meant,  some  way  or  other 
that  institution  soon  passed  into  other  hands. 

Again,  it  would  have  been  folly  to  grant  sepa- 
rate conferences  for  the  colored  membership  and 
leave  standing  the  old  rule,  and  allow  it  to 
apply  in  this  case,  requiring  a  probation  of  two 
years  before  being  admitted  to  an  annual  confer- 
ence. This  was  brought  forward  at  once,  and  the 
animus  of  the  General  Conference  on  the  subject 
was  at  once  manifested  by  the  following  resolution : 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHVRCH.     145 

"Resolved,  That  in  order  to  constitute  the  first 
conference  of  colored  members,  the  rClle  of  the  Dis- 
cipline requiring  a  probation  of  two  years  be  so  far 
suspended  as  to  allow  the  bishops  to  organize  into 
one  or  more  annual  conferences  such  colored  local 
elders  as  have  traveled  two  or  more  years  under  a 
presiding  elder  and  shall  be  recommended  by  a 
quarterly  conference  and  by  at  least  ten  elders  who 
are  members  of  an  annual  conference." 

This  was  a  wise  and  prudential  action.  Wise  in 
that  it  at  once  dissipated  any  thought  that  might 
have  arisen  in  the  minds  of  the  less  stable  mem- 
bers, that  the  matter  was  simply  put  in  a  compli- 
cated shape  to  keep  the  colored  members  at  bay, 
and  thereby  eventually  drive  out  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  all  the  colored  people.  To  have 
kept  them  waiting  under  the  probationary  rule 
would  probably  have  done  much  harm.  Prudential 
in  that  even  the  local  elders  were  to  come  up  well 
recommended :  (1)  By  their  own  people,  among 
whom  they  lived  and  worked,  and  who  therefore 
could  testify  as  to  their  moral,  religious,  and  literary 
fitness  for  the  traveling  connection.  (2)  To  be  rec- 
ommended "by  at  least  ten  elders  (white)  who  are 
members  of  an  annual  conference."  Who  were  better 
qualified  than  such  elders  to  know  who  were  and 
•who  were  not  qualified  for  traveling  preachers — our 
own  people  had  no  experience  in  matters  of  that 
kind — in  that  they  would  naturally  be  able  and 
more   willing   to   speak   against  those  "  wolves   in 

13 


146  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

sheep's  clothing"  who  sometimes  "climb  up  some 
other  way"  into  our  annual  conferences  for  the  pur- 
pose of  fleecing,  instead  of  feeding,  the  flock  of 
God?  Our  own  people  might  have  been  in  some 
way  related  to  the  applicants  or  ignorant  of  their 
devices.  AVhy  should  not  some  precautions  be 
observed  when  clothing  with  authority  those  who, 
even  then,  must  have  been  witnessing  "the  pains, 
the  groans,  the  dying  strife"  of  an  institution  that 
had  grown  gray  in  crime  and  debauchery — under 
which  for  two  hundred  and  forty-four  years  the 
race  had  suffered  in  more  ways  than  the  Hebrews 
in  Egypt?  They  had  never  enjoyed  even  the  privi- 
lege of  elementary  training  in  any  way  fitting  them 
for  happiness  and  usefulness  in  the  world.  They 
were  poor  and  ignorant.  Poor  in  that  even  the 
good  name  of  the  race  was  gone ;  and  who  does  not 
know  that  a 

"  Good  name,  in  naan  and  woman,     .... 
Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls? 
Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash  ;  'tis  something,  nothing ; 
'Twas  mine,  'tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands; 
But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name 
Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 
And  makes  me  poor  indeed." 

We  do  not  know  that  additional  weight  attaches 
to  the  above  by  knowing  that  Shakespeare  put  these 
words  into  the  month  of  lago ;  but  it  is  a  fair 
statement  of  the  condition  of  the  race  when  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued.  The  mo- 
rality of  the  race  under  the  old  regime  is  the  prodigy 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      147 

of  the  age !  And  yet  they  knew  nothing  theoret- 
ically of  morality,  and  had  opportunities  for  but 
few  examples  of  it.  They  knew  nothing  of  home 
economics,  and  not  five  in  one  hundred  of  the  rank 
and  file  could  count  correctly  ten  dollars  in  small 
change.  Hence  the  Church  was  wise  in  throwing 
around  this  people  safeguards  as  well  as  charity. 
They  knew  but  little,  if  anything,  of  the  comforts  of 
home  life,  the  proper  training  of  children  ;  while 
the  fantastic  mode  of  dressing  immediately  after 
the  war  tells  a  tale  at  which  a  heathen  should  blush. 
They  knew  comparatively  nothing  either  of  Church 
polity  or  moral  science.  Those  who  have  found 
occasion  to  laugh  at  the  huge  mistakes  of  some  of 
our  ministers,  as  well  as  some  others  who  had 
enjoyed  better  opportunities,  must  find  a  sufficient 
explanation  in  the  previous  condition  of  the  race. 
Was  the  Methodist  Church  not  right  in  doing  as 
it  did? 


148  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  A  GREAT  WORK, 

THE  beginning  of  a  work  among  these  images 
of  God  cut  in  ebony  is  found  in  the  following 
resolutions  looking  to  the  protection  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  colored  man  by  the  civil  government. 
It  is  nothing  against  a  system  that  it  -was  badly 
managed  or  fell  into  bad  hands,  or  else  our  vener- 
ated Constitution  is  involved.  That  General  Con- 
ference (1864)  in  its  report  on  freedmen,  said: 

"(1)  Resolved,  That  in  the  events  which  have 
thrown  the  thousands  of  freed  people  upon  the 
benevolence  of  the  humane  and  loyal  people  of  the 
North,  we  recognize  a  providential  call  to  the 
Christian  public  for  contributions  for  their  physical 
relief  and  mental  and  moral  elevation  and  espe- 
cially to  the  Church  of  Christ  for  the  means  of  their 
evangelization. 

"(2)  Resolved,  That  the  best  interests  of  the 
freedmen  of  the  country  demand  legislation  that 
shall  foster  and  protect  this  people,  and  we  do 
hereby  respectfully  but  earnestly  urge  upon  Con- 
gress the  importance  of  establishing,  as  soon  as 
practicable,  a  Bureau  of  Freedmen's  Affairs,  as  con- 
templated in  the  bills  now  pending." 

What  did  this  mean?     If  it  meant  anything,  the 


TnE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     149 

Church  meant  to  practice,  at  its  earliest  conven- 
ience, the  doctrine  it  had  been  preaching  for  the 
last  eighty  years  and  more, — that  the  poor  enslaved 
colored  man  should  be  properly  trained  to  enjoy 
this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come.  It  meant  that 
just  as  soon  as  the  alarms  of  war  had  sufficiently 
subsided  and  God  opened  the  way,  or  signified  that 
an  entrance  could  be  gained,  to  go  at  once  up  and 
down  through  the  Southland  carrying  the  gospel 
of  free  salvation  to  the  down-trodden,  poverty- 
stricken,  and  demoralized  colored  man.  While  but 
few,  if  any,  believe  the  only  mission  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  South  was  to  the  poor 
colored  man,  but  few  will  doubt  that,  had  it  no 
other  call  to  go  into  the  South,  that  were  enough. 
But  few  rational  Christians  believe  the  Church  had 
no  call  into  the  South. 

That  the  Church  was  needed  there,  no  one  will 
question  when  the  condition  of  the  colored  man  at 
that  time  is  considered,  as  well  as  the  relation  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  sustained  to  the 
colored  man  before  and  during  the  war,  and  that 
other  significant  fact  that  the  colored  man,  as  such, 
was,  and  for  that  matter  is,  peculiarly  either  a  Baptist 
or  a  Methodist.  From  the  beginning  Methodism 
took  hold  of  him,  and  he  learned  that,  wherever 
found,  a  true  Methodist  was  his  friend.  This  in 
itself  is  sufficient  explanation  of  the  peculiarity 
referred  to  above.  What  was  the  condition  of  the 
colored  man  at  the  close  of  the  war?     When  the 


150  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

black  smoke  of  battle  arose  from  a  hundred  battle- 
fields the  entire  colored  population — four  and  a 
half  millions — came  forth  ignorant,  superstitious, 
degraded,  and  poverty-stricken.  The  only  beam  of 
hope  rested  entirely  on  the  education  of  the  race. 
The  emancipation  was  followed  by  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  these  ignorant  and  superstitious  people. 
The  cry  of  opposition  was  heard  vociferously  in 
the  South,  while  in  some  places  in  the  North  lead- 
ing newspapers  and  men  expressed  doubts  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  thing.  Who,  under  the  then 
existing  circumstances,  doubted  the  earnestness  of 
those  who  cried  out  as  they  saw  the  colored  men 
clothed  with  freedom  and  franchise,  yet  slaves  to 
superstition  and  ignorance : 

"  A  poor^  blind  Samson  is  in  our  land, 
Bound  hand  and  foot,  and  prone  upon  his  back ; 
But  who  knows  that,  in  some  drunken  revel, 
He  may  rise  and  grasp  the  pillars 
Of  our  temple's  liberties,  shake  the  foundations 
Till  all  beneath  its  broken  columns  lie  in  ruins  ?" 

Amid  the  religious  training  received  from  that 
part  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  that 
trained  them  at  all,  did  not  appear  anything  diiferent 
from  the  system  of  slavery  in  vogue,  save  the 
promise  of  an  eternal  Sabbath.  It  is  true  a  colored 
membership  was  reported  by  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South ;  but  this  did  not  mean  that  the 
colored  people  within  that  Church  were  permitted 
to  worship  God  in  their  own  congregations,  or  that 
there    were    any    colored   pastors    or    class-leaders 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      151 

among  that  membership.  If  slavery  had  continued, 
the  condition  of  the  colored  man  religiously  could 
never  have  become  better.  Just  how — unless  force 
of  circumstances  played  a  part  in  the  drama — a 
brotherly  feeling  could  have  arisen  or  existed  in  the 
bosom  of  the  poor  colored  man  under  that  regime, 
we  can  not,  for  the  life  of  us,  surmise.  But  all 
that  was  ended  with  the  war,  and  still  there  was 
but  little,  if  any,  change.  The  withdrawals  at  first 
opportunity  of  colored  people  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  meant  something.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  was  then,  at 
any  rate,  unwilling  to  educate  the  colored  man. 
In  proof  of  the  last  assertion,  we  turn  to  page  148 
of  Dr.  A.  G.  Haygood's  book,  "Our  Brother  in 
Black."  The  following,  published  in  1881  by  this 
leading  philosopher  and  clergyman  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episocopal  Church,  South,  is  as  significant  as 
sound.     He  says : 

"  If  the  work  of  educating  the  Negroes  of  the 
South  is  ever  to  be  carried  on  satisfactorily,  if  ever 
the  best  results  are  to  be  accomplished,  then 
Southern  white  people  must  take  part  in  the  work  of 
teaching  Negro  schools.  There  have  been  some 
very  sad  and  hurtful  mistakes  in  the  relations  as- 
sumed by  most  of  us  of  the  South  to  this  whole 
matter,  and  especially  in  the  fact  that,  with  very 
rare  exceptions,  our  people  have  steadfastly  refused 
to  teach  Negro  children,  especially  since  they  were 
made  free,  for  love  or  money.     They  have  recoiled 


162  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

from  Negro  schools  as  if  there  were  personal  degra- 
dation in  teaching  them.  Perhaps  the  state  of 
things  that  existed  at  the  South  for  a  full  decade 
after  the  war,  and  for  which  Southern  j)eople  were 
not  alone  responsible — a  state  of  things  that  made 
it  impracticable  for  Southern  white  men  and  women 
to  teach  Negro  schools — was  inevitable.  But  so  it 
was ;  they  could  not  do  it  without  *  losing  caste.' 
As  I  am  trying  to  state  facts  honestly,  I  should 
add,  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  South  would 
not  even  now  look  favorably  upon  such  teachers ; 
but  I  must  say  we  are  growing  in  sense  as  well  as 
grace  on  this  subject." 

Without  further  comment,  the  above  corrob- 
orates the  statement  that  the  condition  of  the  freed- 
raen  in  the  South  directly  after  the  war,  temporally, 
spiritually,  morally,  and  intellectually,  was  a  loud 
enough  call,  and  the  mission  of  enough  importance 
to  warrant  the  action  of  the  General  Conference  of 
1864  in  its  action  that  virtually  announced  the 
intention  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  go 
into  the  South.  The  fact  that  conferences  had 
been  opened  in  the  South  for  colored  people  was 
sufficient  proof. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  SOUTH. 

When  the  General  Conference  of  1868  met  in  the 
city -of  Chicago,  111.,  for  its  twentieth  session,  among 
other  things  it  took  up  the  subject  of  the  relation  of 
the  Church  to  the  colored  man.    There  were  present 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      153 

at  that  General  Conference  two  hundred  and  forty- 
three  delegates.  When  the  General  Conference  of 
1864  authorized  the  formation  of  mission  conferences 
in  the  South  for  colored  people,  as  a  Church,  it 
"had  been  practically  excluded  for  twenty  years " 
from  Alabama,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Ar- 
kansas, and  Texas,  while  a  generation  had  grown 
up  under  the  immediate  care,  as  it'  were,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  It  is  true  that 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  held  on  iu 
some  sort  in  the  city  of  Baltimore — this  being  her 
strongest  fort — while  through  some  parts  of  Dela- 
ware, Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri 
it  had  a  foothold.  Our  Church  in  1863,  in  the 
last-named  States,  claimed  332  effective  preachers, 
84,673  members,  and  919  church-buildings.  By 
the  next  year,  when  the  General  Conference  of 
1864  met  for  its  nineteenth  session  in  Philadelphia, 
it  claimed  in  the  above-named  five  slave  States  309 
effective  preachers,  87,072  members — 15,898  being 
colored — and  982  churches,  being  an  increase  in 
these  five  States  of  2,399  members,  not  including 
probationers,  and  a  decrease  of  23  effective  preach- 
ers, and  an  increase  of  63  church-buildings.  Thus  it 
may  be  seen  that  a  wise  Providence  proclaimed 
the  mission  of  our  Church ;  and  there  was  then,  as 
we  see  now,  no  mistake  made  on  the  part  of  our 
Church  when  it  heard  and  obeyed  the  commission 
in  this  case,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 


154  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

the  gospel  to  every  creature."  The  crowning  act 
touching  the  subject  we  discuss  was  given  by  the 
General  Conference  of  1864  in  these  words:  "We 
are  not  aware  of  any  legal  obstacle  to  the  reception 
of  colored  preachers  into  our  annual  conferences." 
Touching  the  work  done  by  the  last  General  Con- 
ference, and  showing  somewhat  of  the  results  at- 
tained, the  Bishops'  Address  to  the  Twentieth  Gen- 
eral Conference  contained  the  following: 

"  They  [the  Delaware  and  Washington  colored 
conferences]  now  contain  one  hundred  and  one  min- 
isters and  twenty-six  thousand  four  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  members  and  probationers.  The  cre- 
ation of  these  conferences  was  hailed  by  our  colored 
ministers  and  membership  with  great  joy,  and  has, 
we  believe,  been  productive  of  much  good.  The  min- 
isters are  becoming  familiar  with  the  mode  of  eon- 
ducting  business,  and  many  of  them  are  rapidly 
improving.  At  their  recent  sessions  they  elected 
representatives  to  this  body  according  to  the  form 
of  the  Discipline  for  electing  delegates.  Whether 
these  representatives  should  be  admitted,  you  alone 
have  authority  to  decide.  In  our  judgment,  the 
success  of  this  work  demands  all  the  encourage- 
ment which  the  General  Conference  can  properly 
give." 

The  regular  and  natural  succession  of  action 
touching  the  relation  of  the  Church  toward  the 
colored  man  seems  to  declare,  to  our  mind  at  any 
rate,  that  it  has  the  divine  sanction.     The  submis- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      155 

sion  of  the  above  resolution  brought  at  once  before 
the  General  Conference  of  1868  the  question  of  the 
advisability  of  admitting — not  colored  testimony,  or 
testimony  from  people  of  color — but  colored  dele- 
gates to  equality  in  the  General  Conference  of  one 
of  the  largest  denominations  in  the  world.  The 
Christ-like  spirit  of  the  bishops  in  presenting  the 
matter,  supported  by  their  modest  indorsement  of 
it,  was  manly.  They  said:  "In  our  judgment,  the 
success  of  this  work  demands  all  the  encourage- 
ment which  the  General  Conference  can  properly 
give."  It  may  have  been  that  it  was  not  thor- 
oughly settled  in  the  minds  of  all  the  delegates 
of  that  General  Conference.  The  result,  however, 
was  satisfactory,  in  that  James  Davis  and  Benjamin 
Brown  were  seated  as  delegates,  and  thereby  the 
equal  rights  of  our  colored  members  were  not  only 
recognized,  but  everything  looking  to  their  eleva- 
tion, done  by  the  Church,  was  stamped  with  ap- 
proval. The  adjournment  of  that  General  Confer- 
ence did  not  take  place  until  provision  for  other 
conferences  for  our  people,  at  their  own  request,  was 
made.  The  year  preceding  that  General  Confer- 
ence a  colored  presiding  elder  had  been  appointed 
over  a  district  in  Kentucky ;  nine  mission  confer- 
ences had  been  organized  in  our  Southern  field ; 
colored  preachers  had  been  received  into  the  Ken- 
tucky and  Missouri  Annual  Conferences.  Notwith- 
standing this,  wherever  a  mission  conference  was 
organized  a  new  inspiration  seemed  to  overshadow 


156  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

the  entire  work.  The  provision  above  referred  to 
was  as  folio Avs : 

^^^  Resolved,  1.  That  the  bishops  who  may  pre- 
side in  the  Kentucky  Conference  during  the  next 
four  years,  are  hereby  authorized  to  organize  the  col- 
ored ministers  within  the  bounds  of  said  conference 
into  a  separate  annual  conference,  if  said  ministers 
request  it;  and  if,  in  the  judgment  of  the  bishops, 
the  interest   of  the  work  requires  it,  to  be  called 

the Conference:  Provided,  that  nothing  in 

this  resolution  shall  be  construed  to  impair  the  ex- 
isting constitutional  rights  of  our  colored  members 
on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the  other,  to  forbid  the 
transfer  of  white  ministers  to  said  conference,  when- 
ever it  may  be  deemed  desirable  or  expedient.' 

"So  soon  as  this  resolution  was  taken  up,  a 
motion  was  made  to  lay  it  upon  the  table,  which 
was  lost. 

"A  motion  to  amend  by  inserting,  'Provided, 
that  colored  members  may  remain  in  the  Kentucky 
Conference,'  was  laid  on  the  table. 

"A  motion  to  strike  out  the  words  'the  interest 
of  the  work,'  and  insert  '  the  unity  and  success  of 
the  Church,'  was  laid  on  the  table;  and  the  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  as  matured  by  the  Committee  on 
Boundaries." 

The  motions  subsequently  made  show  at  once 
the  animus  of  the  white  brethren  of  that  conference 
at  that  time.  While  many  were  anxious  to  have 
restrictions,  others  objected  to  it  in  toto.     But,  as 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      157 

in  the  General  Conference,  so  it  has  been  in  nearly 
every  annual  conference,  that  a  wide  difference  of 
opinion  on  the  color-line  question  existed.  It  is  well 
that  it  was  so. 

Following  hard  upon  the  above  action  in  the 
interest  of  the  colored  man,  this  General  Confer- 
ence paid  special  attention  to  its  work  so  grandly 
begun  in  the  sunny  South.  While  the  discussion 
of  the  status  of  the  colored  delegates  elicited  much 
animation,  the  restrictions  were  removed  from  the 
conferences  of  the  Church  in  the  South,  irrespective 
of  color,  by  a  vote  of  197  to  15.  All  our  benevo- 
lent societies  were  instructed  to  redouble  their  dili- 
gence to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case ;  our  Book 
Concerns  were  to  publish  one  or  more  papers  adapted 
to  the  new  order  of  things  within  the  South ; 
transfers,  if  needed,  were  to  be  sent  into  this  fruitful 
field ;  training-schools  and  theological  schools  were 
ordered  for  the  special  training  of  the  colored 
people  of  the  South  within  our  Church  and  without, 
if  accepted.  The  bishops  were  requested  to  give 
the  colored  work  special  episcopal  supervision.  As 
a  finale  of  the  action  of  that  General  Conference, 
an  "  enabling  act"  for  the  establishment  of  the  third 
annual  conference  among  our  colored  members  was 
passed,  with  the  provision  that  in  every  case  the 
rightf  of  every  preacher  were  to  be  fully  and  care- 
fully, as  well  as  impartially,  considered.  The  white 
preachers  and  teachers  who  were  sent  by  the  Church 
into  the  South  to  carry  out  this  plan  of  work  were. 


158  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

in  too  many  cases,  not  only  subjected  to  insult,  but 
cruel  scourgings  and  false  imprisonment,  as  if  ostra- 
cism was  not  cruel  and  wicked  punishment  enough. 
But  many  of  those  thus  treated  were  men  and 
women  of  God,  and  therefore  consistent  but  firm 
and  true  heroes  and  heroines. 

Dr.  Walden  (now  bishop),  in  an  address,  Aug.  13, 
1883,  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
ciety, spoke  of  this  work.  The  following  needs  no 
comment,  as  he  speaks  of  the  period  in  our  work  in 
the  South  at  which  we  now  are,  and  we  insert  it 
here  as  a  retrospect : 

"  Two  courses  were  open — one  to  delay  employing  col- 
ored preachers  until  they  could  be  educated,  the  other 
to  put  these  untutored  men  to  work  at  once.  No  people 
ever  needed  the  gospel  more  than  did  the  freed  people. 
Standing  in  the  midst  of  new  relations,  the  possessors 
of  a  new-found  freedom  for  which  they  had  never  been 
trained,  they  needed  both  the  restraints  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  gospel.  The  AVesleyan  prescience  of  our 
Church  recognized  this  need,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
fact  that  these  unlearned  preachers,  if  divinely  called, 
could  so  tell  the  story  of  the  Cross  as  to  benefit  their 
people.  The  lives  of  many  of  these  men  had  been 
an  unbroken  period  of  slave-toil ;  but  the  sequel  proves 
that  they  knew  enough  of  the  saving  power  of  Christ 
and  the  fullness  of  his  love  to  instruct  their  hearers  in 
the  way  of  life,  and  we  now  see  that  their  relation  to 
this  work  was  not  unlike  to  that  of  the  first  of  AVesley's 
lay  preachers  to  their  work  among  their  own  classes  in 
England. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      159 

"  With  this  illustration  before  us  of  the  general 
principle  that  a  people  may  and  must  be  instrumental  in 
their  own  evaugelization,  let  us  study  some  of  the  re- 
sults of  our  itinerant  system  among  the  freedmen — of 
our  itinerancy  and  its  auxiliary  agencies.  All  under- 
stand our  itinerancy  to  be  the  general  superintendency 
and  the  pastorate;  by  auxiliary  agencies  I  mean  our 
sub-pastorate,  in  which  the  class-leaders  stand,  our  Church 
literature,  and  our  Sunday-schools.  The  mere  suggestion 
of  the  fact  leads  you  at  once  to  see  that  the  real  func- 
tion of  each  and  all  of  these  is  to  re-enforce  both  the 
general  and  the  particular  work  committed  to  the  itiner- 
ancy or  three  foldpastorate — the  bishops,  presiding  elders, 
and  pastors  of  our  Church.  The  very  fact  of  taking 
this  comprehensive  system  to  a  people  who  had  no  sys- 
tem, of  beginning  at  once  to  build  them  up  into  it, 
could  not  be  without  producing  some  marked  and  favor- 
able results.     I  mention  the  more  obvious  of  these : 

"(a)  The  freedmen  who  were  recognized  as  having  a 
call  to  preach  could  do  little  more  than  exhort,  but 
they  were  put  into  the  pastoral  relation ;  a  great 
Church  committed  to  them  a  new  and  solemn  trust,  and 
laid  upon  them  grave  responsibilities;  they  were  under 
the  leadership  of  the  superintendents  of  the  missions — 
good,  prudent,  self-sacrificing  men — men  who  in  their 
devotion  to  duty  represented  the  highest  life  of  their 
Church.  Such  things  could  not  be  without  affecting 
these  untutored  preachers.  Crude  as  all  they  did  may 
have  been  at  first,  their  pastorate  benefited  the  people 
they  served,  and  was  to  themselves  a  means  of  training, 
of  real  and  rapid  progress;  and  there  are  still  in  the 
effective  ranks  of  the  conferences  which  came  from  such 


160  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

beginnings  many  pious,  able,  and  successful  preacbers, 
who  were  tbus  transferred  from  the  cotton  and  rice 
fields  and  sugar  plantations  to,  and  trained  in,  our 
itinerant  ministry. 

"(6)  As  the  work  progressed,  tbese  colored  men 
acquired  by  observation  and  experience,  and  such  study 
as  was  possible  with  them,  a  wider  knowledge  of  their 
work ;  and  in  due  course  the  bishops  began  to  appoint 
some  of  them  as  presiding  elders,  investing  them  with 
all  the  honors  and  responsibilities  of  this  important 
office.  It  should  also  be  stated  that  the  Church  that 
acted  thus  through  her  bishops  was  constantly  displaying 
to  them  an  encouraging  interest  in  them  by  furnishing 
means  to  aid  in  the  support  of  their  Church  work. 

"(c)  In  the  annual  conferences  they  were  and  are 
brought  under  the  presidency  of  our  bishops — the  most 
efficient  presiding  officers  in  this  or  any  other  country, 
a  fact  that  became  most  obvious  at  the  Ecumenical 
Methodist  Conference.  The  very  methods  of  business 
in  our  annual  conferences,  and  the  promptness  with 
which  it  is  dispatched  under  this  presidency,  have  had 
such  influence  on  the  older  conferences  that  the  advan- 
tages of  like  administration  to  the  colored  conferences 
are  obvious.  The  influence  of  the  conference  session 
ought  also  to  be  named,  as  these  annual  meetings  of  the 
preachers  have  all  along  affected  most  favorably  the 
character  of  Methodism.  These  colored  preachers  have 
been  coming  together,  as  do  their  brethren  in  older  con- 
ferences, to  report  and  review  the  year's  work,  to  pass 
upon  the  character  of  each  one,  to  consider  the  various 
connectional  and  benevolent  causes,  to  attend  to  all  the 
business  that  is   usually   presented,   and   to   enjoy   the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      161 

social  privileges  and  religious  services  to  which  all  our 
preachers  look  forward  with  deep  interest.  Every  such 
session  tends  to  make  them  wiser  and  more  efi'ective  in 
their  work. 

"(d)  Under  our  system  of  study  for  probationers  and 
deacons,  the  colored  preachers  are  steadily  improving, 
and  their  conferences  are  becoming  more  careful  as  to 
the  qualifications  of  those  who  are  received  into  the 
ministry.  I  well  remember  the  class  taken  on  trial  in 
the  South  Carolina  Conference  in  1867 ;  near  a  dozen 
of  them  were  then  uncouth  and  ill-clad  men,  who 
seemed  to  have  come  direct  from  the  plantations;  little 
or  nothing  was  said  as  to  even  elementary  education ; 
they  were  taken  as  they  were,  and  sent  out  to  do  work 
for  the  Master,  who  ordaineth  strength  even  out  of  the 
mouths  of  babes.  But  it  is  radically  different  in  that 
conference  now;  at  its  session,  last  January,  I  heard 
the  report  of  examinations,  and  learned  thereby  that 
the  standard  of  qualification  is  applied  more  rigidly 
each  succeding  year.  I  rejoiced  in  this  as  a  fact  com- 
mon to  all  these  colored  conferences ;  and  yet  I  also 
rejoiced  to  remember  that  when  the  exigencies  required 
it,  our  Church  dared  to  send  out  the  earlier  members  of 
that  and  other  conferences,  illiterate  as  they  were,  to 
the  work  of  winning  souls. 

"(e)  These  early  colored  preachers,  coming  as  they 
did  from  a  condition  in  which  there  was  no  home,  in  the 
better  sense  of  that  word,  soon  came  to  know  something 
of  the  importance  that  our  Church  attaches  to  Sunday- 
schools.  They  were  organized,  often  in  the  crudest  form  ; 
but  they  have  been  improved,  and  now  nearly  two 
thousand  are  reported  in  the  twelve  conferences.     This 

14 


162  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

work  is  important  there,  not  only  because  it  is  in  behalf 
of  the  youth  and  children,  but  also  because  there  has 
been,  and  is,  a  relatively  great  demand  for  such  work  in 
the  South.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  ratio  between  tlie 
number  of  Sunday-school  scholars  and  Church  members 
of  any  and  all  Protestant  denominations  in  the  South  is 
far  below  what  it  is  iu  the  North.  The  schools  organ- 
ized iu  our  "new  Southern  field"  have  been  aided  with 
papers  published  by  our  Church,  and  especially  adapted 
to  the  condition  of  the  scholars.  All  the  teachers 
employed  by  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  have  done  good 
and  faithful  service  in  these  Sunday-schools.  Through 
them  the  Church  has  been,  and  is,  furnishing  moral  and 
mental  instruction  to  about  one  hundred  thousand  of  the 
youth  and  children,  that  will  be  of  incalculable  value  to 
them,  and  through  them  to  the  Church  and  the  nation. 

"(/)  The  Methodist  newspapers  published  in  the 
South — within  this  new  field — by  our  Church,  in  order 
to  furnish  a  literature  specially  adapted  to  the  condition 
and  needs  of  the  people,  have  been  potent  for  good. 
We  may  not  be  able  to  estimate  the  force  of  the  fact 
that  papers  have  been  provided  for  them  which  they  in 
a  special  sense  regarded  as  their  own.  It  was  no  mean 
fact  with  them  that  a  part  of  the  capital  of  the  Book 
Concern  was  being  employed  to  publish  papers  which,  by 
their  very  location,  must  chiefly  be  for  them.  And  the 
presence  of  a  depository  of  books  at  Atlanta  tended  to 
impress  the  lesson,  taught  in  so  many  ways,  that  our 
Church  was  ready  and  anxious  to  help  them  in  their 
every  eflTort  to  reach  the  plane  of  a  higher  and  better  life. 

"Other  facts  might  be  named  to  show  how  every 
thing  that  is  forceful  in  our  itinerancy    and   its    aux- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      163 

iliary  agencies  has  been  constantly,  wisely,  and  effect- 
ively employed  to  reach,  evangelize  and  elevate  these 
colored  people.  It  has  been  more  than  a  formal  recog- 
nition of  Christian  equality ;  it  has  been  the  continuous 
presence  and  power  of  educational  relations  as  well  as 
educational  agencies  among  them.  The  Church,  during 
tliese  years,  has  recognized  the  divine  call  into  her  min- 
istry of  more  than  a  thousand  of  these  men,  thereby 
reposing  a  confidence  and  conferring  an  honor  that  has 
been  a  special  inspiration  to  them,  and,  in  good  degree, 
to  their  people.  Ministerial  position  and  pastoral  duties, 
prerogatives  and  responsibilities,  shared  in  common  with 
the  largest  corps  of  preachers  in  our  country,  have  been 
made  realities  to  them.  When  that  whole  people  shall 
come  to  the  plane  and  glory  of  a  true  manhood  and 
womanhood,  it  will  be  known  that  the  impartial  plant- 
ing of  our  system  of  itinerancy  among  them  was  one  of 
the  early  and  potent  means  of  their  elevation. 

"  3.  The  aim  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is 
to  enlist  every  local  society  in  the  support  of  her  benev- 
olent enterprises.  She  would  give  to  every  person  con- 
verted at  her  altars  the  opportunity  to  do  work  for  the 
Master.  For  this  reason,  all  her  pastors  are  charged 
with  the  duty  of  presenting  to  their  congregations  the 
claims  of  the  Missionary,  Church  Extension,  Freedmen's 
Aid,  Sunday-school,  Tract,  and  Educational  causes,  and 
of  affording  to  all  the  opportunity  to  contribute  thereto 
according  to  their  ability.  Into  each  sphere  of  work 
represented  by  these  causes,  the  Church  has  been  led  by 
a  marked  providence,  and  her  efforts  in  them  have  been 
attended  with  her  Lord's  signal  favor.  The  presentation 
of  these  causes  in  the  relation  thev  hold  to  the  world's 


164  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

evangelization,  the  end  for  wliich  Christ  established  his 
Church,  teaches  with  special  emphasis  the  magnitude  of 
her  mission,  and  indicates  the  certainty  of  ultimate 
success.  How  the  faith  of  God's  people  has  enlarged 
under  the  inspiration  of  this  widening  work !  These 
causes  have  been  presented  more  or  less  fully  to  our  new 
societies  in  the  South. 

"The  colored  preachers  and  people  have  taken  a  ready 
interest  in  the  Missionary  Society  because  it  carried  the 
gospel  to  them.  The  preachers  were  not  learned,  and 
the  people  were  poor  ;  but  what  if  the  earlier  missionary 
sermons  were  crude  presentations  of  a  world-wide  cause  ? 
what  if  but  a  few  pennies  were  collected  in  a  charge? 
the  people  were  thus  coming  into  contact  with  the  genius 
of  the  gospel,  and  beginning  to  have  some  part  in  the 
movement  that  is  conquering  the  world.  Among  the 
many  wise  things  done  during  the  administration  of  the 
revered  Dr.  Durbiu  as  missionary  secretary,  the  one  of 
all  others  that  has  affected  and  will  continue  to  affect 
our  Church  the  most,  was  providing  for  the  organization 
of  the  Sunday-schools  into  missionary  societies ;  wise  and 
potential,  because  tlius,  in  a  practical  and  methodical 
way,  the  idea  of  the  world's  evangelization  is  fixed  in 
the  thought  of  the  youth  and  children,  by  far  the  great- 
est idea  touching  the  human  race  that  can  be  given  to 
the  human  mind. 

"The  colored  preachers  have  been  learning  this  fun- 
damental idea  of  the  missionary  cause  and  the  purpose 
of  each  of  the  other  benevolences  of  our  Church,  and 
in  their  own  way  it  may  be  presenting  them  to  their 
people;  but  the  result  has  been  a  measure  of  enliglit- 
enment   in    these    directions,   an   increasing  knowledge 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     165 

of  the  far-reaching  plans  of  the  Church  to  which  they 
belong,  a  clearer  consciousness  that  by  being  brought 
within  her  pale  they  have  part  in  one  of  the  great  ag- 
gressive Christian  movements  of  the  age.  Standing  as 
they  do  in  the  dawn  of  a  new  day,  this  conscious  iden- 
tification with  all  the  benevolent  plans  of  the  Church  that 
brought  them  the  gospel  can  not  do  less  than  enlarge 
their  views  of  Christian  duty,  and  inspire  them  with 
zeal  for  and  devotion  to  causes  grand  in  themselves  and 
glorious  in  their  results. 

"4.  The  preaching  that  is  distinctively  Methodistic 
has  had  its  influence  in  tliis  as  in  other  fields.  While 
we  hold  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity  in  com- 
mon with  other  evangelical  Churches — points  of  agree- 
ment, each  of  which  is  infinitely  more  important  than 
all  the  questions  in  regard  to  which  there  is  a  differ- 
ence— all  do  not  place  the  same  emphasis  we  do  on 
some  of  these  truths.  Our  preachers  in  the  *  new  South- 
ern field,'  as  elsewhere,  have  given  special  prominence 
to  the  willingness  and  power  of  Jesus  to  save  every  one 
who  comes  to  him  ;  the  universal  call  and  the  gracious 
ability  of  every  one  to  come ;  the  radical  character  of 
the  change  wrought  in  conversion — a  new  life  through 
divine  power;  the  adoption  into  the  divine  family,  and 
that  adoption  clearly,  satisfactorily  attested  through  the 
witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  complete  cleansing  power 
of  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  the  keeping  power  of  the 
promised  grace.  Need  I  say  in  this  presence  that  the 
emphasis  given  to  these  Scriptural  doctrines  by  our  min- 
istry has  molded  the  experience  of  Methodists  in  every 
society,  and  made  the  meeting  for  testimony,  whether 
love-feast  or  class-meeting,  a  part  of  our  Church  life  ? 


166  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

The  preaching  of  these  doctrines  in  the  earnest  Methodist 
way  among  the  colored  people,  the  building  up  of  a 
Church  among  them  under  the  molding  and  inspiring 
effect  of  such  truths,  the  leading  of  the  members  up  to  a 
clear,  well-defined  religious  experience,  is  giving  them  a 
Church  life,  the  advantage  of  which  is  best  known  from 
what  Methodism  has  done  for  other  peoples.  Already 
the  advance  of  Christian  morality,  the  growing  habits 
of  industry  and  economy,  the  increasing  spirit  of  benevo- 
lence and  liberality,  the  new  home-life  where  home  was 
so  recently  unknown — the  fruits  of  an  evangelical  gospel 
faithfully  preached — show  what  we  have  done,  and  are 
the  promise  and  pledge  of  a  pure,  strong,  and  active 
Church  in  every  part  of  our  new  Southern  field  in  the 
near  future." 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      167 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  COI.ORED  BISHOP  QUESTION. 

THE  quadrenniura  from  1868  to  1872  exhib- 
ited a  marvelous  growth  among  the  colored 
membership  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
This  was  but  the  pulsation  started  by  Methodism 
among  her  hitherto  downtrodden  children,  by  her 
labor  of  love  in  carrying  to  them  the  gospel  of 
free  salvation  through  the  agency  of  her  benevolent 
societies,  the  class  of  bishops,  General  Conference 
officers,  and  the  consecrated  and  self-denying  white 
teachers  from  the  North,  who  left  their  homes  of 
comfort  and  joy  to  go  South  and  put  themselves  upon 
God's  altar  for  the  elevation,  morally,  financially, 
intellectually,  and  spiritually,  of  their  "brother 
in  black."  The  work  done,  and  its  eifects  in 
so  short  a  time,  seem  now  the  marvel  of  the  age ! 
The  scattered  sheep  had  been  gathered  from  the 
hills  and  valleys,  the  cane-brakes  and  swamps,  from 
the  villages  and  the  larger  cities,  into  societies  nearly 
everywhere.  Wherever  possible  they  had  been 
organized  into  conferences  as  had  been  provided 
by  the  action  of  the  General  Conference  of  1864. 
With  the  application  for  recognition  came  that  also 
for  separate  conferences.  Two  separate  annual  con- 
ferences had  been  organized  before  1865 — the  Dela- 


168  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

ware  Conference,  July  28,  1864,  and  the  Washing- 
ton Conference,  October  27,  1864.  Besides  this,  the 
Rule  of  the  Discipline,  requiring  a  probation  of 
two  years,  had  been  suspended  so  far  as  to  permit 
our  bishops  to  organize  annual  conferences  with 
.  such  colored  local  elders  as  had  traveled  two  or 
more  years  under  a  presiding  elder,  who  were 
recommended  by  a  quarterly  conference  and  by  at 
least  ten  white  elders.  Thus  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  colored  membership  of  the  Church 
had  been  recognized,  and  the  marvelous  growth 
among  them  during  this  quadrenuium  was  but  a 
manifestation  of  appreciation  on  the  part  of  the 
religious  colored  people  of  the  South,  evidence  of 
their  preference  for  Methodism,  pure  and  simple. 

The  fact  that  colored  delegates  were  recognized 
by  the  General  Conference  of  1868,  and  provision 
inade  for  the  organization  of  the  Lexington  Annual 
Conference,  that  had  hitherto  been  mixed  with  the 
Kentucky  Conference,  white;  that  separate  annual 
conferences  had  been  formed;  indeed,  that  every 
practically  conceivable  thing  was  being  done  by 
the  Church  for  her  colored  members, — caused  many 
to  flock  toward  her  that  had  fled  for  safety  in 
another  direction.  The  tide  was  soon  checked  by 
the  ministry  and  membership  of  the  two  colored 
denominations — the  African  Zion  and  the  African 
Methodist  Churches — that  were  toiling  in  the  same 
field,  by  crying  out  "the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  will  never  permit  a  colored  man  to  be  elected 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      169 

a  bishop."  Consternation  seized  many  of  our  mem- 
bers when  they  were  told  that  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  would  only  tolerate  a  black  member- 
ship as  "hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water." 
It  at  last  became  to  many,  as  they  said,  "self- 
evident,  that  to  retain  the  better  class  of  colored 
people  there  must  be  no  discrimination  anywhere 
in  Methodism  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude."  Many,  many  hard  battles 
were  fought,  not  with  the  enemy  of  souls,  but  with 
our  brethren  of  the  above-named  two  denomina- 
tions. From  1868  to  the  adjournment  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1872  a  bitter  religious  war- 
fare was  waged.  At  last,  as  the  quadrennium  drew 
to  a  close,  it  was  evident  that  the  agitation  of  the 
question  of  a  bishop  of  African  descent  had  not 
only  done  much  injury,  poisoning  and  unsettling 
the  minds  of  our  colored  membership,  but  that,  in 
one  way  or  the  other,  the  question  must  be  put  and 
answered  by  the  ensuing  General  Conference.  This 
w'as  one  of  the  most  important  questions  consid- 
ered by  the  General  Conference  of  1872,  sitting  in 
Brooklyn,  New  York.  This,  the  twenty-first  ses- 
sion of  our  General  Conference,  will  be  remembered 
as  the  largest  ever  held  by  our  Church  up  to  that 
time,  there  being  four  hundred  and  twenty-one 
delegates.  Several  of  our  colored  conferences  sent 
up  memorials  in  favor  of  the  election  of  a  bishop 
of  African  descent.  As  they  were  presented  they 
were   respectfully  referred    to   the  Committeee   on 

15 


170  *  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Episcopacy,  composed  of  one  delegate  from  each  an- 
nual conference,  colored  or  white.  The  petition  for 
a  bishop  of  African  descent  from  the  preachers'  meet- 
ing of  New  Orleans  received  the  following  reply  : 

"The  special  coramiftee  to  which  was  referred 
the  memorial  of  the  New  Orleans  preachers'  meet- 
ing of  ^lay  23d,  asking  for  the  election  of  an  addi- 
tional bishop,  who  shall  be  of  African  descent, 
respectfully  report :  That  at  a  meeting  of  the  com- 
mittee, held  May  30th,  the  statements  of  the 
memorialists  and  their  requests  were  carefully  con- 
sidered. The  very  reasonable  demand,  that  at  least 
some  action  may  be  taken  which  shall  assure  our 
people  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  invites 
to  her  altars  peoples  of  every  nation,  and  extends 
to  them  equal  rights  in  her  worship  and  govern- 
ment, was  responded  to  with  great  unanimity  by 
the  following  declaration  of  facts  which,  we  arc 
persuaded,  will  be  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  memo- 
rialists." 

Then  follows  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Episcopacy,  viz. : 

"  The  Committee  on  Episcopacy  report  to  the 
General  Conference  concerning  the  election  of  a 
colored  bishop :  (1)  That  they  are  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  Christian  spirit  manifested  by  those 
memorializing  the  General  Conference  on  this  sub- 
ject. The  rapid  progress  our  brethren  of  color  are 
making  in  all  that  elevates  mankind  is  most  com- 
mendable, and  we  have  no  doubt  there  is  a  future 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      171 

of  great  promise  before  them.  Your  committee 
would  further  report  that,  in  their  judgment,  there 
is  nothing  in  race,  color,  or  former  condition  thai  is 
a  bar  to  an  election  to  the  episcopacy,  the  true 
course  being  for  us  to  elect  only  such  persons  as 
are,  by  their  pre-eminent  piety,  endowments,  culture, 
general  fitness,  and  acceptability  best  qualified  to 
fill  the  office.  (2)  The  claims  of  our  numerous 
and  noble-hearted  membership  of  African  descent 
to  a  perfect  equality  of  relations  with  all  others  in 
our  communion  are  fully  recognized  by  the  Disci- 
pline, and  amply  demonstrated  in  the  administration 
of  the  Methdist  Episcopal  Church.  There  is  no 
word  Svhite'  to  discriminate  against  race  or  color 
known  in  our  legislation ;  and  being  of  African 
descent  does  not  prevent  membership  with  white 
men  in  annual  conferences,  nor  ordination  at  the 
same  altars,  nor  appointment  nor  eligibility  to  the 
highest  office  in  the  Church.  (3)  Election  to  the 
office  of  bishop  from  among  candidates  who  are 
mutually  equal  can  not  be  determined  on  the  ground 
of  color  or  any  other  special  consideration.  It  can 
only  be  by  fair  and  honorable  competition  between 
the  friends  of  the  respective  candidates.  And  yet 
the  presentation  of  a  well-qualified  man  of  African 
descent  would,  doubtless,  secure  very  general  sup- 
port in  view  of  the  great  interests  of  the  Church, 
which  would  thereby  be  more  abundantly  promoted. 
No  such  opportunity,  however,  has  been  afforded 
at  this  General  Conference." 


172  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Quite  a  while  before  the  assembling  of  that 
General  Conference  the  colored  bishop  question  had 
been  widely  discussed,  receiving  very  general  con- 
sideration and  favorable  mention  in  some  localities. 
It,  however,  was  not  of  a  demonstrative  character. 
The  fair,  plain,  Christian  statements  of  that  General 
Conference  put  an  end  to  the  "  color  question " 
within  the  Church,  so  far  as  special  ecclesiastical 
legislation  goes.  May  we  not  hope  that  it  put  a 
quietus  upon  those  without  the  Church  who  prefer 
to  arrogate  to  themselves  a  kind  of  aristocratical 
attitude,  because  they  have  solved  the  Negro  prob- 
lem by  divorce,  but  who  willingly  join  in  any  out- 
cry that  will  have  a  tendency  to  condone  any  action 
relating  to  "the  vexed  question"  they  have  taken, 
or  seem  to  shadow  any  spirit  of  un kindness  that 
v/ould  naturally  attach  to  such  a  wicked  divorce? 
The  manliness,  Christian  spirit,  and  unwavering 
fidelity  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  toward 
the  colored  man  from  his  arrival  in  this  country,  so 
far  as  the  heart  of  the  Church  is  concerned,  ought 
to  be  "read  and  known  of  all  men."  That  General 
Conference  said  all  on  the  colored  bishop  question 
that  could  be  said;  and,  for  that  matter,  all  on  the 
race  question  that  needs  to  be  said  for  all  time 
to  come. 

While  glancing  backward  and  beholding  what 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  done,  and  is 
now  doing,  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition 
and   giving  the  colored  man    in  general,    and   the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      173 

colored  membership  within  the  communion  of  the 
Church  in  particular,  prestige,  we  feel  as  if  the 
ignorance  of  any  colored  man  in  this  country  who 
dares  say  the  Church,  as  such,  has  not  loved  and 
respected  the  race,  is  inexcusable,  reprehensible,  and 
hate-provoking.  In  many  instances  the  Church 
did  not  do  what  we  asked;,  in  others  it  did  not  do 
what  others  thought  it  should  have  done;  but 
time  and  experience  have  taught  us  it  did  gen- 
erally what  was  best.  It  was  feared  that  much 
harm  would  come  to  Methodism  among  our  people 
if  a  bishop  of  African  descent  were  not  chosen  at 
that  General  Conference.  Ought  we  to  say  it  was 
the  hope  of  some?  In  the  rural  districts,*  where 
the  general  intelligence  of  the  race  was  not  above 
par,  it  may  have  caused  friction  because  of  the  omni- 
presence of  "  colored  bishops,"  "  General  Confer- 
ence officers,"  "  college  presidents,"  etc.  The  years 
that  are  to  come,  unless  a  strange  influence  not 
related  to  that  of  the  Church  of  the  past  comes 
upon  our  Methodism,  will  show  that  up  to  this 
time  it  was  better  as  it  happened.  The  election  of 
a  man  of  African  descent  was  urged  and  expected : 
(1)  To  tighten  our  hold  upon  our  people  by  offset- 
ting outside  statements  that  the  Church  would  never 
elect  a  colored  man  to  the  bishopric ;  (2)  To  re- 
move any  lingering  doubts,  if  there  remained  any, 
as  to  the  intention  of  the  Church  touching  the  rela- 
tion of  the  colored  man  to  it.  We  doubt  not 
many,  without  the  Church,  who  persistently  pushed 


174  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

this  matter,  urging  it  through  their  Church  pa- 
pers, the  secuhir  press,  aud  iu  nearly  every  pub- 
lic place,  and  on  nearly  every  occasion ;  who  did 
this  for  the  specific  purpose  of  demoralizing  aud 
scattering  our  membership,  though  done  with  a 
seeming  gravity  and  earnestness  worthy  of  a  better 
cause,  did  not  honestly  believe  it  possible  that  the 
great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  would  even  go 
as  far  as  it  did;  believing  that  it  was  an  impossi- 
bility, as  much  so  as  it  would  be  to  elect  a  white  man 
to  the  bishopric  in  one  of  the  distinctively  col- 
ored organizations,  were  there  the  same  number  of 
white  people  within  the  communion  of  those  three 
Churches,  comparatively,  that  there  are  colored  in 
our  Church,  and  that  the  Church  would  not  only 
passively  refuse,  but  would  plainly  say  so.  This 
would  naturally  have  weakened  their  faith,  and  they 
would  have  doubted  the  sincerity  of  the  professions 
of  the  Church  made  in  favor  of  the  colored  man 
by  it  in  the  past.  On  the  contrary,  the  action  of 
that  General  Conference  had  no  such  effect  where 
the  truth  of  the  matter  was  properly  told,  or  where 
the  intelligence  of  our  people  made  them  con- 
versant with  the  past  history  of  the  Church  on  the 
color-line  question. 

The  discussion  of  the  question  was  kept  up 
until  the  assembling  of  the  session  of  the  General 
Conference  of  1876.  Without  stopping  to  speak  of 
the  spirit  manifested  in  the  discussion  of  this  ques- 
tion, pro  and  con,  outside  of  the  General  Conference, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      175 

nor  to  speak  our  views  then  or  now,  wishing  to 
give  as  complete  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
that  General  Conference  was  brought  to  see  this 
question,  we  simply  state  that  the  discussion  was 
carried  into  nearly,  if  not  every  congregation  in 
the  Church  during  the  quadrennium.  The  whole 
matter,  phoenix-like,  came  to  the  surface  at  the  call 
for  resolutions  and  memorials.  The  Mississippi 
Conference  led  with  the  following,  presented  by 
Moses  Adams : 

"Whereas,  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
has  under  her  care  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
members  of  African  descent;  and  whereas,  the  said 
Church  meets  with  great  opposition  from  other 
Methodist  bodies,  I  therefore  respectfully  ask  this 
General  Conference  to  elect  a  man  of  African  de- 
scent to  the  office  of  bishop  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  This  is  asked  for  two  reasons: 
(1)  That  the  Church  needs  one  to  help  defend'  her 
cause.  Nothing,  in  my  judgment,  would  build  up 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  more  than  the 
election  of  a  bishop  from  the  memberslrip  of  African 
descent.  (2)  The  race  is  not  fully  represented  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  without  one  such 
being  elected  to  that  high  office  of  trust." 

From  the  West  Virginia  Conference  the  fol- 
lowing was  presented  by  G.  W.  Atkinson : 

*^  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy 
consider  the  expediency  of  electing  a  German 
bishop  and  one  or  more  African  bishops,  to  super- 


176  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

vise  the  German  and  African  conferences  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America." 

The  Delaware  Conference  sent  up  a  memorial  in 
favor  of  the  election  of  a  bishop  of  African  descent, 
which  was  presented  by  H.  Jolley.  The  petition  in 
favor  of  the  same  sent  up  from  the  Georgia  Con- 
ference was  presented  by  Rev.  C.  O.  Fisher,  signed 
by  himself  and  sixteen  others.  The  Mississippi 
Conference  sent  up  a  similar  petition  by  A.  C. 
McDonald.  The  foregoing  gives  a  faint  idea  of  the 
scope  of  the  question. 

Just  how  that  General  Conference  would  handle 
the  question,  striking  the  happy,  golden  mean 
between  the  two  extremes,  without  reflecting  upon 
the  past  history  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
relating  to  the  colored  membership  on  the  one  hand, 
or,  if  necessary  to  refuse,  how  it  could  avoid  injur- 
ing the  work  already  established  among  the  race, 
was  a  perplexing  question.  Each  memorial  was 
given  a  careful  and  respectful  investigation  and 
promptly  and  properly  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Episcopacy.  At  last,  after  many  guesses  and 
prophecies  by  friends  of  the  measure,  and  others, 
the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy  was  fin- 
ished. When  the  committee  signified  its  readiness  to 
report,  on  motion  of  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  Report 
No.  2  of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy  was  taken 
up.  When  the  secretary  arose  to  read  it,  it  appeared 
as  if  a  peculiar  spell  had  come  over  a  great  many 
members   of  that   General    Conference   who   knew 


TUE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CIlDRCn.      177 

nothing  of  the  decision  of  the  Committee.  The 
report  was  as  follows : 

"  We  have  had  before  us  certain  papers  asking 
the  election  of  a  man  of  African  descent  to  our 
episcopal  office,  and  other  papers  asking  that  the 
residence  of  such  bishop  be  in  Liberia.  It  is 
claimed  in  these  petitions  that  the  circumstances  of 
the  people  of  African  descent  are  such  that  the 
efficiency  of  the  work  of  our  Church  among  them 
demands  the  election  of  a  man  of  African  descent  to 
our  episcopacy ;  that  such  election,  more  than  any 
other  fact,  would  establish  beyond  all  gainsaying  the 
relation  of  our  Church  to  its  members  of  African 
descent ;  that  it  would  give  them  a  bishop  thai 
could  mingle  freely  with  them  without  embarrass- 
ment to  the  work  among  them  in  any  locality  ; 
that  these  ends  would  be  reached,  and  the  needed 
administration  in  Liberia  be  secured,  by  fixing  the 
residence  of  such  bishop  in  that  colony.  Your 
committee  have  considered  these  facts ;  but  in  view 
of  the  statement  received  from  the  present  Board 
of  Bishops  as  to  their  ability  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  the  superintendency,  we  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following: 

"Resolved,  (1)  That  this  General  Conference 
elect  no  bishops. 

"  Resolved,  (2)  That  the  facts  presented  in  the 
several  petitions  above  mentioned  are  entitled  to 
careful  consideration  whenever  the  election  of  ad- 
ditional bishops  shall  become  necessary. 


178  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

"  Resolved,  (3)  That  we  reiterate  the  declaration 
of  the  General  Conference  of  1872,  touching  the 
relation  of  a  man  of  African  descent  to  our  epis- 
copal office,  and  assert  that  race,  nationality,  color, 
or  previous  condition  is  no  bar  to  the  election  of 
any  man  to  the  episcopal  office  in  our  Church,  nor 
any  other  elective  office  filled  by  the  General  Con- 
ference."    (Journal  187G,  p.  353.) 

The  fact  that "  papers  asking  that  the  residence  of 
such  bishop  be  in  Liberia  "  had  also  been  presented, 
though  coming  in  all  probability  from  opposition 
to  the  election  of  a  man  of  African  descent  to  the 
bishopric,  like  Thomas  doubting  his  risen  Lord, 
demonstrates  the  fact  that  that  General  Conference, 
by  its  Committee  on  Episcopacy,  would  have  granted 
the  petitioners  in  favor  of  the  election  to  the  epis- 
copacy of  a  man  of  African  descent  their  request, 
if  they  had  produced  a  suitable  man  of  African 
descent ;  or  that  the  election  of  a  missionary  bishop 
for  Liberia  would  put  a  quietus  upon  the  agitation. 
If  not  this,  then  it  declares  that  there  were  those 
in  that  General  Conference  who  had  expressed 
themselves  as  favoring  every  move  touching  the 
colored  membership  in  the  Church  that  would 
elevate  and  inspire  them  with  hope  for  the  future. 
The  entire  proceeding  is,  to  my  mind,  inexplicable, 
were  it  not  for  the  omnipresent  fact  that,  so  far  as 
the  Church  is  concerned,  "  God  is  in  the  midst  of 
her."  The  plea  of  the  petitioners  was  not  granted 
by  that  General  Conference ;  but  that  is  not  stranger 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     179 

than  the  fact  that  other  plans  failed  to  be  carried 
out  at  that  General  Conference,  and  for  that  matter 
every  General  Conference  in  the  history  of  tiie 
Church  from  1844  until  to-day,  that  were,  so  far 
as  arrangements,  etc.,  go,  already  well  supported 
before  the  meeting  of  the  General  Conference. 
Going  back  to  the  day  of  the  adjournment  of  that 
General  Conference,  we  say,  we  can  wait. 

The  General  Conference  of  1880. — Dur- 
ing the  following  quadrennium  up  to  this  General 
Conference  the  colored  bishop  question  was  more 
generally  discussed  than  before.  The  official  papers 
of  the  Church  began  to  take  notice  of  the  question, 
while  our  brethren  of  the  African  and  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  South,  joined  in  to  help  on 
the  good  work — the  former,  in  all  probability,  be- 
cause of  the  supposed  predicament  it  put  the  col- 
ored members  into;  aud  tlie  latter,  because  they 
wished  to  push  what  they  were  pleased  to  call  "  the 
thorn  in  the  flesh"  farther  into  the  quick  of  the 
white  membership  in  the  Church.  The  Baltimore 
District  of  the  Washington  Annual  Conference  passed 
a  series  of  resolutions  touching  this  question. 
Those  resolutions  were,  in  all  probability,  too  rad- 
ical when  they  declared  the  election  of  a  man  of 
African  descent  to  our  episcopacy  "the  only  way  the 
Church  can  hope  to  prove  its  good  faith  or  respect 
for  the  numerous  colored  membership  within  tlie 
Church."  The  fact  is,  the  Church  was  not  required 
to  bring  forth  fruits  to  exhibit  any  such  thing.    ■ 


180  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

The  Central  Christian  Advocate,  our  official 
organ  at  St.  Louis,  thus  spolie  on  this  subject : 

"A  few  weeks  ago  the  members  of  the  Baltimore 
District  Conference,  Washington  Annual  Confer- 
ence, passed  a  preamble  and  resolutions,  in  which 
they  declare  that  members  of  African  descent 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  do  not  enjoy 
practically  the  fullest  recognition  of  Church  fellow- 
ship and  communion ;  that  the  only  way  to  prove  to 
them  and  the  world  that  they  are  recognized  as 
equals  in  the  Church  is  the  election  of  a  man  of 
African  descent  to  the  office  of  bishop;  and  they 
recommend  their  brethren  to  'agitate'  the  question 
and,  if  necessary,  to  '  demand '  the  election  of  a 
colored  bishop  at  the  General  Conference  to  be  held 
in  May,  1880.  This  is  the  action  of  a  single  dis- 
trict conference ;  to  what  extent  it  represents  the 
opinions  of  the  colored  ministers  of  the  Church  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing ;  for,  so  far  as  we  have 
observed,  no  other  district  conference  has  yet  taken 
action  on  the  subject. 

"The  action  of  a  single  district  conference, 
liowever  influential  and  worthy  of  consideration, 
scarcely  brings  a  question  before  the  Church  suf- 
ficiently to  make  it  at  once  a  subject  for  general 
discussion  in  the  official  papers.  We  proposed, 
therefore,  to  wait  and  see  whether  the  Baltimore 
District  Conference  represented  the  convictions  of 
others  than  itself.  But  our  editorial  brethren  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  caught  it 


TEE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      181 

up  at  once  as  a  choice  morsel,  which  afforded  them 
a  nice  opportunity  to  worry,  as  they  believe,  the 
white  membership  of  our  Church,  and  to  sow  dis- 
sension among  the  colored  members.  The  Rich- 
mond Advocate  declared  that  intense  mortification 
and  confusion  would  seize  upon  the  whites  when 
this  action  of  their  colored  brethren  became  known, 
and  that  not  an  official  paper  of  the  Church  would 
dare  mention  what  had  taken  place.  It  was  a  false 
prophet.  And  it  must  have  been  doubly  surprised 
when  the  New  York  Methodist,  which  is  presumed 
to  represent  the  more  conservative  element  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  promptly  pronounced 
in  favor  of  the  election  of  one  or  two  colored  bishops. 
The  Louisville  Methodist  thinks  we  have  'a  difficult 
problem  *  on  our  hands,  and,  with  an  air  of  com- 
passionate concern,  informs  our  colored  brethren 
'that  all  the  important  offices  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  will  be  filled  by  white  men,  notwith- 
standing the  resolutions  of  the  Baltimore  District.' 
"But  the  Louisville  Methodist  is  too  anxious  to 
make  out  a  case.  It  says  that  the  colored  mem- 
bers of  our  Church  were  greatly  disappointed  that 
a  colored  bishop  was  not  elected  in  1872.  Had 
the  editor  consulted  the  published  proceedings  of 
that  General  Conference  instead  of  drawing  upon 
his  imagination  for  his  facts,  he  would  have  scarcely 
made  such  a  statement.  There  was  but  one  memo- 
rial before  the  conference  on  the  subject,  and  it  had 
only  four  signatures  attached.     The  Committee  on 


182  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Episcopacy,  to  which  it  was  referred,  reported  '  that, 
in  their  judgment,  there  is  nothing  in  race,  color,  or 
former  condition  that  is  a  bar  to  an  election  to  the 
episcopacy,  the  true  course  being  for  us  to  elect 
only  such  persons  as  are,  by  their  pre-eminent 
piety,  endowments,  culture,  general  fitness,  and  ac-. 
ceptability,  best  qualified  to  fill  the  office.'  And  no 
more  eloquent  speech  was  made  during  the  confer- 
ence than  that  of  Hon.  James  Lynch,  of  Missis- 
sippi, a  colored  lay  member,  declaring  that  the 
colored  men  asked  no  favors  on  account  of  race, 
and  that  when  they  produced  a  man  as  fit  for  the 
place  as  those  about  them,  it  would  then  be  time 
enough  for  action." 

The  spirit  manifested  by  our  Southern  brethren 
in  the  discussion  of  this  question  within  our  Churcli 
smacks  of  officionsness.  They  are  in  no  way  to  be 
aff'ected  whether  it  is  or  is  not  done.  While  they 
have  a  perfect  right  to  take  part  in  any  and  all  dis- 
cussions worthy  of  public  attention,  anything  like 
an  attempt  to  sow  the  seeds  of  dissension  among 
the  members  of  any  other  denomination  is,  in  the 
eyes  of  an  ignorant  black  man,  reprehensible,  not 
to  say  unchristian.  It  gives  room  for  complaint 
from  the  world  that  Southern  "JMethodists  are  no 
better  than  other  folks."  The  colored  man  who 
is  simply  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  for  the  sake  of  "important  offices"  had 
better  leave  it — the  sooner  the  better.  No  Christian 
white   man   remains   in    any  Church  for  that  sole 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      183 

reason ;  and,  as  Bishop  Simpson  once  said :  "  A 
white  man  is  as  good  as  a  colored  man,  if  he 
behaves  himself."  One  tiling  is  certain,  that  every 
such  office-seeking  colored  man  in  the  Church  will 
fail  to  receive  the  support  of  every  intelligent  col- 
ored Christian  within  the  Church.  It  is  true  that, 
on  general  principles,  it  was  but  a  short  time  until 
the  desire  of  the  brethren  of  the  Baltimore  Dis- 
trict became  that  of  many  others ;  that  is,  that  it 
was  thought  necessary  that  a  colored  man  should  be 
elected  to  the  bishopric. 

When  the  General  Conference  of  1880  met  in 
Cincinnati  for  its  twenty-third  session,  this  question 
again  came  up  for  discussion.  Memorials  and  reso- 
lutions on  this  subject  were  presented  from  Wash- 
ington Conference,  by  Henry  A.  Carroll ;  from  Dela- 
ware Conference,  by  W.  F.  Butler,  Zoar  Church 
and  Cambridge  charge ;  J.  C.  Hartzell,  from  New 
Orleans  preachers'  meeting;  by  John  H.  Dunn  and 
J.  H.  Shumpert,  from  Mississippi,  et  al. ;  and  C.  O. 
Fisher  presented  an  extract  from  the  journal  of 
Savannah  Conference  and  from  Atlanta  District. 
On  Wednesday,  May  12th,  on  motion,  the  rules  were 
suspended  to  allow  E.  W.  S,  Hammond  to  present 
the  following  paper: 

"  Whereas,  It  is  clearly  evident,  from  the 
memorials  and  petitions  on  the  subject,  and  which 
were  duly  referred  to  the  Committer  on  Episcopacy, 
that  the  colored  people  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  desire  a  bishop   of  their   own   race;    and 


184  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

whereas,  the  election  of  a  colored  bishop  would  be 
a  practical  recognition  of  our  full  manhood  by  the 
Church,  and  a  grand  influence  in  the  extension  of 
our  -work  in  the  United  States  and  in  other  lands; 
and  whereas,  the  General  Conference  of  1872  did 
declare,  and  the  General  Conference  of  1876  did 
reaffirm,  with  emphatic  significance,  that  race,  na- 
tionality, color,  or  previous  condition  is  no  bar  to 
the  election  of  any  man  to  the  episcopal  office  in 
our  Church ;  and  whereas,  the  General  Conference  of 
1876  did  recommend  that  the  memorials,  petitions, 
etc.,  on  the  above-named  subject  should  be  entitled 
to  a  careful  consideration  whenever  the  election  of 
additional  bishops  shall  become  necessary ;  and 
whereas,  the  necessity  for  the  election  of  additional 
bishops  is  ap})arent,  and  the  way  is  now  open  for 
the  practical  operation  of  the  above  resolution ;  be 
it,  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  this  General  Conference  recom- 
mend the  election  of  a  colored  man  to  the  episcopacy," 

He  supported  the  above  preamble  and  resolution 
by  a  vigorous  and  timely  speech,  through  courtesy  of 
the  General  Conference,  lasting  over  fifteen  minutes. 

On  motion  of  L.  C.  Queal,  the  foregoing  paper 
was  laid  on  the  table  for  the  present.  The  memo- 
rials, followed  hard  by  that  resolution  and  speech, 
seemed  to  put  the  General  Conference  to  thinking 
on  the  subject  as  never  before. 

It  is  not  exactly  certain  that  there  was  no  oppo- 
sition to  the  question  at  that  General  Conference. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      185 

Why  need  any  one  demand  a  thing  to  which  there  is 
no  objection?  It  would  come  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Some  spirit  of  opposition  anon  manifested  itself  in 
a  way  as  unfair  as  uncalled  for.  For  instance, 
the  following  presented  by  A.  W.  Milby,  of  Wil- 
mington Conference : 

"  Whereas,  The  question  of  a  colored  bishop 
is  with  great  persistency  urged  upon  the  attention 
of  the  General  Conference;  and  whereas,  it  is  a 
question  to  be  determined,  not  by  appeals  to  senti- 
ment, but  by  arguments  and  facts  addressed  to  the 
reason  and  the  understanding;  and  whereas,  we  be- 
lieve that  the  records  of  the  benevolent  societies 
and  the  statistical  reports  of  the  several  annual 
conferences,  composed  of  colored  preachers,  will 
furnish  the  best  data  for  a  wise  and  godly  judg- 
ment; therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy 
be,  and  are  hereby,  instructed  to  inquire  into  and 
report  to  this  conference  at  an  early  day,  the  fol- 
lowing items  in  respect  to  the  conferences  com- 
posed, in  whole  or  in  part,  of  colored  preachers, 
to  wit :  (1)  The  amount  of  money  contributed  by 
said  conferences  to  the  Episcopal  Fund  during  the 
last  quadrennium.  (2)  The  amount  contributed  to 
the  missionary  cause.  (3)  The  amount  contributed 
to  the  Church  Extension  Society.  (4)  The  amount 
contributed  to  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society.  (5)  The 
amount  received  by  said  conferences  from  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  during  the  quadrennium.     (6)  The 

16 


186  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

amount  received  from  the  Church  Extension  So- 
ciety. (7)  The  amount  received  from  the  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Society." 

On  motion,  the  above  resolutions  were  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy.  The  unfairness 
of  such  a  proposition,  as  well  as  the  unchristian 
spirit  that  produced  it,  become  at  once  apparent, 
Avhen  it  is  remembered  that  in  the  Church  of  God 
the  good  to  be  done  for  our  brother  is  not  to  de- 
pend either  upon  his  willingly  accepting  it,  demon- 
stration of  appreciation,  the  amount  of  wealth  pos- 
sessed by  the  recipients,  or  the  amount  of  money 
they  can  or  will  produce.  "How  much  will  he 
bring  at  auction  ?"  was  the  language  of  slave-traders 
in  the  past.  The  amount  given  for  almost  any  cause 
by  almost  every  person  is  dependent  upon  the  intel- 
ligence possessed  or  communicated  relating  thereto, 
and  the  interest  taken  therein,  coupled,  of  course, 
with  financial  ability.  If  the  resolutions  above 
referred  to  were  germane,  why  not  have  each  of 
the  above  conferences  also  report :  (1)  How  many 
souls  have  been  converted  during  thequadrennium? 
(2)  How  much  religious  fervor,  comparative  con- 
sistency in  religious  life,  has  been  manifest  among 
them?  (3)  How  much  time  have  they  had,  and 
under  what  circumstances,  to  be  prepared  to  accu- 
mulate wealth,  and  then  giv^e  it  "as  the  Lord  pros- 
pers them  ?"  (4)  What  have  they  given,  per  capita, 
in  comparison  with  their  white  brethren's  wealth, 
time,  and  influence,  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     187 

of  God  among  men  ?  (5)  What  proportion  do  tliey 
sustain  to  the  rest  of  the  membership  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  numerically  ?  (6)  What 
per  cent  of  their  actual  wealth  do  they  give  for  the 
cause  of  Christ  ?  If  any  special  attention  was  paid 
to  those  resolutions,  those  in  charge  of  our  benevo- 
lent societies  have  no  knowledge  of  it.  The  Church 
of  God  will  never  require  such  a  test.  Were  the 
Methodist  Church  to  do  it,  Satan  would  certainly 
be  warranted  in  affirming  that  a  dollar  in  her  scales 
weighs  more  than  an  immortal  soul. 

The  crisis  in  the  question  of  a  colored  bishop 
came  May  20th,  when  Report  No.  3  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Episcopacy  was  presented,  as  follows : 

"The  Committee  on  Episcopacy,  having  con- 
sidered the  memorials  and  petitions  referred  to  it 
on  the  election  of  a  bishop  of  African  descent, 
adopted  each  of  the  following  resolutions  by  a  vote 
of  thirty-nine  to  eight : 

"Resolved,  1.  That  the  best  interests  of  our 
Church  in  general,  and  of  our  colored  people  in  par- 
ticular, require  that  one  or  more  of  our  general 
superintendents  should  be  of  African  descent. 

"  Resolved,  2.  That  we  recommend  that  this  Gen- 
eral Conference  elect  one  bishop  of  African  descent." 

J.  S.  Smart  moved  to  adopt ;  thereupon  Alfred 
Wlieeler  presented  the  following  minority  report, 
and  moved  that  it  be  substituted  for  the  report  of 
the  majority : 

"A  portion  of  your  Committee  on  Episcopacy, 


188  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

diifering  widely  from  the  majority,  both  as  to  the  ne- 
cessity and  expediency  of  electing  a  colored  bishop 
at  the  present  time,  feel  constrained  to  express  our 
dissent  by  a  minority  report.  After  listening  at- 
tentively to  prolonged  discussions  upon  the  subject, 
and  giving  due  weight  to  the  arguments  urged  in 
its  favor,  and  to  full  representation  of  the  state  of 
our  religious  work  among  the  colored  people  of  the 
South,  representations  made  by  themselves  as  well 
as  by  their  white  co-laborers,  we  are  convinced  that 
sound  policy  forbids  the  adoption  of  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  majority. 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  That  we  deem  it  inexpe- 
dient to  elect  any  more  bishops  at  this  General  Con- 
ference." 

John  Lanahan  moved  that  the  whole  subject  be 
indefinitely  postponed.  On  motion  of  Emperor 
Williams,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  called,  and  the 
motion  to  postpone  indefinitely  was  carried  by  two 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  votes  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven. 

To  show  the  interest  manifested,  of  the  three 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  delegates,  all  were  present 
and  voted  on  that  resolution  save  thirty-four.  At 
page  282  of  General  Conference  Journal  of  1880 
we  have  the  list  of  names.  There  appear  names  of 
persons  who  voted  indefinitely  to  postpone  that 
question  that  surprises  us  a  little ;  and  not  very 
much,  either.  However,  a  quietus  was  thus  put 
upon  that  question  for  that  session  at  least. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     189 

Let  us  look  back  for  a  moment.  Has  it  not 
appeared  in  nearly  every  instance,  when  the  colored 
membership  have  memorialized  the  General  Confer- 
ence, that  not  only  has  respectful  attention  been 
given,  but  concessions  made?  Has  it  not  appeared 
as  clearly,  all  the  way  through,  that  the  Church,  as 
such,  is  ready  whenever  the  race  presents  a  proper 
man?  The  voice  of  the  Church  not  only  declares 
its  willingness,  but  even  hints  that  while  "  race, 
color,"  nor  other  special  considerations  are  to  be  helps 
or  hindrances,  it  is  possible  to  elect  a  colored  bishop 
by  "  fair  and  honorable  competition  between  the 
friends  of  the  respective  candidates." 

There  is  no  man  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  who  would  feel  worse  than  the  writer,  were 
any  General  Conference  of  our  Church  to  elect  a 
white  man  to  the  episcopacy  because  he  had  been 
an  Abolitionist,  a  Federal  soldier,  was  a  Japan- 
ese, or  who  had  been  a  foreign  missionary,  but, 
aside  from  these  things,  had  no  other  qualification. 
Just  the  same  way  would  it  be  if  any  General  Con- 
ference should  elect  to  the  office  of  bishop  in  our 
Church  a  colored  man,  simply  because  he  had  been  a 
slave,  or  because  he  could  make  a  passable  speech,  or 
deliver  an  acceptable  sermon,  or  was  pastor  of  a  small 
congregation,  but,  aside  from  this,  had  no  literary 
attainments,  but  little  or  no  executive  ability,  and 
but  little  practical  experience  in  general  Cliurch 
work.  It  would  be  no  particular  advantage  under 
such  circumstances,  while  it  might  do   incalculable 


190  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

injury,  not  only  to  the  general  Church,  but  to  the 
interests  of  the  race  in  particular. 

Hon.  James  Lynch,  of  Mississippi,  declared  in 
the  General  Conference  of  1872,  that  no  favors  were 
asked  on  account  of  race.  Rev.  E.  W.  S.  Ham- 
mond, in  the  eloquent  speech  delivered  before  the 
General  Conference  of  1880,  in  Cincinnati,  said  that 
the  plea  being  made  was  not  for  a  colored  bishop 
simply  for  the  colored  people^  but  a  bishop  for  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  And  now  the  way  is 
not  only  open,  but  wisdom  at  the  threshold  of  the 
bishopric  in  our  Church  cries  to  all,  "  There  is  noth- 
ing in  race,  color,  or  previous  condition,  a  bar  to 
entrance  here,  but  the  true  course  given  me  is  to 
admit  only  those  who,  by  their  pre-eminent  piety, 
godly  judgment,  and  literary  qualifications,  are  best 
fitted  to  fill  the  office."  There  is  not  an  intelligent 
Christian  of  color  within  our  Church  that  does  not 
bow  assent  to  this  sentiment.  When  as  a  race  we 
are  to  be  represented  on  our  bench  of  bishops,  we 
want  a  man  who  is,  and  will  be,  a  credit  to  the 
Church,  an  honor  to  the  race  and  to  himself,  an 
equal  among  equals  in  every  respect — a  represent- 
ative man,  "blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife, 
vigilant,  sober,  modest,  given  to  hospitality,  apt  to 
teach  ;  not  given  to  wine,  no  striker,  not  greedy  of 
filthy  lucre  ;  but  patient,  not  a  brawler,  not  covetous; 
one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  household ;  not  a 
novice,  lest  being  lifted  up  with  pride  he  fall  into 
the  condemnation  of  the  devil.     Moreover  he  must 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     191 

have  a  good  report  of  them  which  are  without,  lest 
he  fall  into  reproach  and  the  snare  of  the  devil." 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  ought  a  colored  man  be 
elected  as  "  one  of  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church." 


192  THE  COLORED  MAN. 


CHAPTER  X. 

WHY  ASK  FOR  A  BISHOP  OF  AFRICAN  DESCENT? 

DO  not  the  attitude  sustained  by  the  colored 
man  to  the  Church,  from  his  admission  into 
the  John  Street  Church  in  New  York,  and  the  ac- 
tions taken  by  the  Church  relating  to  his  interests, 
based  as  they  have  been  upon  the  integrity  and 
fidelity  of  the  race,  up  to  the  granting  of  separate 
Conferences,  warrant  it?  If  not,  why  were  not  our 
German  brethren  satisfied  until  they  were  repre- 
sented nationally  or  linguistically  therein?  The 
Church  has  hitherto  carried  out  the  most  natural, 
as  well  as  rational  order  of  succession  in  this  matter, 
that,  if  it  leads  anywhere,  leads  up,  necessarily  leads 
up,  to  this  point.  The  colored  ministers  were  recog- 
nized, licensed,  given  appointments,  quarterly  con- 
ferences, district  and  annual  conferences,  the  pre- 
siding eldership,  admitted  as  delegates  to  the  General 
Conferences,  elected  to  General  Conference  offices, 
and  the  Church  declared  that  "  race,  color,  or  pre- 
vious condition "  was  "  no  bar  to  election  to  the 
episcopacy  in  our  Church."  If  we  are  required  and 
expected  to  go  on  to  perfection,  will  any  one  deny 
that  election  to  the  episcopacy  will  push  the  whole 
race  a  step  higher  in  the  Divine  life  ?  Not  sim- 
ply because  of  this  alone,  but  because  the  colored 


Rrv    A    1      1     AI  HI  Rl     U    D  , 
Sditor  of  Southwestern  v.hristia:<  Advucate, 
NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.    193 

man,  like  white  men,  believes  the  bishopric  a  step 
higher,  in  office  at  least,  than  the  eldership  in  our 
Church.  He  believes,  like  other  men,  that  progres- 
sion is  the  watchword  of  the  hour.  Who  does  not 
now  know  that  a  bishop  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  is  considered  the  most  influential  minister 
in  the  State,  county,  city,  village,  and  in  the  general 
Church?  No  other  office  is  paramount.  The  fact 
that  there  is  to  be  allowed  no  discrimination  on  ac- 
count of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servi- 
tude within  the  Church,  it  is  claimed,  guarantees  to 
them  not  only  the  right  to  ask,  but  to  expect  help 
in  securing  the  same,  since  it  Avill  never  be  possible 
for  it  to  be  done  by  the  race  alone  within  the  Church. 
It  is  therefore  declared  by  many  of  both  races 
within  the  Church,  that  justice  to  the  race  demands 
it  as  it  could  not  for  any  other  class  of  members  within 
the  Church.  Nothing  less  than  injustice  can  with- 
hold that  which  is  justly  due.  Now  the  colored 
members,  whose  influence  has  brought  them  forth 
into  prominence  in  the  Church,  have  never  asked 
the  General  Conference  to  elect  a  bishop  of  African 
descent  because  our  bishops  have  been  one  thing  to 
white  members  and  another  to  colored  members, 
nor  because  our  bishops,  when  coming  among  the 
colored  members,  have  been  "overseers"  instead  of 
superintendents,  nor  because  they  are  not  acceptable 
to  the  colored  membership.  Far  from  it.  Our 
bishops  to-day  hold 'a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the 
colored  membership  of  the  Church  that  any  man  of 

17 


194  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

African  descent,  elected  to  the  episcopacy  in  our 
Church,  coukl  only  desire,  since  he  could  not  dis- 
lodge his  white  colleague.  But  it  is  asked  for  tlie 
same  reason  the  Church  gave  years  ago  for  the 
proper  recognition  of  colored  ministers  when  it 
said,  it  is  "a  principle  patent  to  Christian  enter- 
prise that  the  missionary  field  itself  must  produce 
the  most  efficient  missionaries."  Is  not  this  an 
argument  at  once  logically  true  in  the  case  of  a 
bishop  of  African  descent?  The  reasons  given  by 
representatives  from  the  South  when  asking  for  a 
separate  conference  were :  (1)  "  It  will  secure 
greater  efficiency  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work, 
since  many  things  of  great  interest  to  an  annual 
conference  and  to  the  Church  never  get  farther 
than  the  humblest  hearthstone."  (2)  "  It  will  relieve 
us  from  the  taunts  and  sneers  of  designing  men," 
and  secure  the  communion  and  friendship  of  many 
who  would  not  otherwise  unite  with  us.  (3)  "  It 
will  relieve  the  Church  of  even  a  suspicion  of  a 
spirit  of  caste,  and  make  us  feel  as  men,  and  the 
peers  of  our  white  brethren.  (4)  It  will  be  no  in- 
novation upon  any  principle  of  Christianity  or  of 
our  beloved  Church,"  but  will  mightily  help  in 
"rending  the  veil"  and  breaking  down  the  middle 
wall  of  partition  Satan  has  built  between  brethren 
out  of  the  remains  of  slavery  that  existed  in  this 
country.  Another  reason  is  offered  on  the  score  of 
the  numerical  standing  of  the" colored  membership. 
According  to  the  statistics   of  1884,  there   are 


I 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     195 

now  not  far  from  1,800,000  members  within  the 
Church.  Of  this  number,  there  are  about  300,000 
colored  members.  "  The  constitutional  rights  of  the 
colored  members"  being  recognized,  indeed  all  their 
rights  and  privileges,  it  would  follow  that,  on  general 
principles,  one  member  in  the  Church  has  as  many 
and  varied  rights  as  another.  The  colored  members 
in  the  Church  make  up  one-sixth  of  its  membership. 
They  would  on  this  scale,  therefore,  be  entitled  to 
one  representative  on  our  bench  of  bishops  for  every 
six,  and  so  on. 

Will  the  time  ever  come  when  a  colored  bishop 
will  be  elected  by  the  General  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church?  This  the  future  will 
tell.  However  ignorant  we  may  now  be  as  to 
whether  it  will  ever  be  done  or  not,  we  can  easily 
imagine  the  result  of  such  an  election.  It  would 
no  doubt  be  as  the  bursting  forth  of  some  pent-up 
fountain  which  sends  forth  streams  in  opposite 
directions.  Doubtless  if  there  remain  any  within 
the  Church  who  fear  man  more  than  God,  they 
would  likely  flow  outward  toward  more  congenial 
climes,  where  the  nursing  of  wrath  brings  imag- 
inary peace.  It  is  impossible  to  turn  a  mighty 
stream  all  at  once  out  of  its  channel  without  some 
commotion.  But  then  the  onsweeping  tide  would 
soon  wear  another  channel,  and  no  more  would  be 
seen  of  the  commotion  than  anon  a  ripple  in  tlie 
mighty  stream.  The  other  stream,  flowing  in  the 
opposite  direction,  would  be,  to  the  Christian  men 


196  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

and  women  of  this  land,  "a  stream  that  makes 
glad  the  city  of  God."  It  would  send  a  thi-ill  of 
renewed  vigor  and  confidence  in  God  and  Meth- 
odism all  over  this  world.  Every  community  where 
infidelity,  skepticism,  or  Romanism  now  predomi- 
nates would  be  hopelessly  stunned,  while  a  gainsay- 
ing world  would  not  only  stand  aghast,  but  fall 
back  before  the  enthusiastic  shout  of  seven  million 
hitherto  rejected  and  ostracized  images  of  God  cut 
in  ebony.  It  would  be  an  incentive  to  Christians 
everywhere  in  general,  and  the  three  hundred  thou- 
sand colored  members,  old  and  young,  within  the 
Church  in  particular,  to  live  better  lives  and  do 
better  work.  The  older  men  who  now  hold  posi- 
tions of  prominence  in  the  Church  would  have  more 
time  in  which  to  do  their  work,  and  would  probably 
do  it  better,  at  any  rate  more  hopefully.  Instead 
of  having  to  fight  caste  prejudice,  and  repel  the  in- 
sults heaped  upon  them  hitherto  by  that  hateful 
spirit,  they  would  quietly  prosecute  their  work.  The 
younger  men,  who  are  already  within  the  colored 
conferences  would  feel  a  desire,  even  if  they  were 
unable  to  make  amends  for  lost  time,  better  to  pre- 
pare themselves  for  future  usefulness.  The  colored 
annual  conferences  would  at  once  begin  to  fasten 
the  breaches  in  their  fences,  through  which  can- 
didates for  clerical  orders  have  been  creeping  at 
times.  The  young  men  who  would  come  flocking 
to  the  doors  of  the  conferences  for  admission  would 
find    written    over   the    archway,  "No   young  man 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      197 

admitted  to  this  conference  until  he  shall  be  found 
possessed  with  the  necessary  qualifications, — 'gifts, 
grace,  and  usefulness.'" 

Our  college  alumni,  who  have  gone  elsewhere 
seeking  employment,  would  return.  How  much 
more  proficient  does  that  man  try  to  be  who  knows 
there  is  a  future  before  him,  than  the  one  who  sus- 
pects there  is  none !  Thousands  of  our  talented 
young  people  have  left  us  because  they  said  they 
saw  but  little  hope  in  the  future  for  the  colored 
ministry  in  our  Church.  Indeed,  there  was  a  tinle 
in  the  history  of  our  colored  work  when  the  pro- 
fessional man,  the  mechanic,  and  the  man  of  means 
among  us,  were  all  about  to  leave  us  in  some  local- 
ities, because  it  had  been  told  them  that  within  the 
Church  we  were  but  "  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers 
of  water." 

There  was  also  a  time  when  graduates  of  our 
institutions,  in  many  instances,  were  given  work 
by  other  denominations  because  we  had  none 
for  them  before  they  took  their  diploma  from  the 
campus  of  their  alma  mater.  Why,  it  is  impossible 
properly  to  educate  a  man,  and  then  keep  him  from 
thinking,  looking,  and  speaking  for  himself.  It  is 
only  recently  that  the  younger  people  of  the  race 
have  become  interested  in  our  work.  This  is 
directly  attributable  to  our  separate  conferences; 
while  many  who  left  us  for  "sufficient  reasons" 
would  return,  and  we  could  more  securely  hold  those 
we  now  have. 


198  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

THE  SEGREGATION  OF  THE  RACE  INTO  COLORED 
ORGANIZATIONS. 

It  is  impossible  to  build  up  a  first-class  member- 
ship out  of  second-class  material.  This  has  been 
one  of  our  weak  points.  Such  eiforts  as  "  Tanner's 
Apology"  were  aimed  along  this  line.  Now,  why  is 
it  that  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and, 
for  that  matter,  everywhere  in  this  country  except 
in  the  Southern  States,  the  colored  man  has  sought  a 
colored  organization?  Why  the  segregation  of  the 
race  in  the  North,  where  slavery  never  came?  Dr. 
A.  G.  Haygood  believes,  with  many  others,  that 
race  instinct  segregates  them.  He  says  :  "  Instinct 
never  yet  surrendered  to  arguments ;  it  is  their  race 
instinct,  deep  and  strong  and  inexpugnable,"  as 
Carlyle  would  say.  Who  that  heard  their  impas- 
sioned speeches  at  Cincinnati,  in  May,  1880,  could 
not  see  that  their  appeal  came,  not  from  the  cold 
conclusions  of  the  reason,  but  red-hot  out  of  their 
hearts,  from  the  irresistible  promptings  of  instinct? 
Listening  to  their  speeches,  I  felt  strongly  the 
mighty  under-current  that  their  words  but  feebly 
revealed,  and  I  felt — "They  are  right;  they  do  well 
to  ask  this  conference  for  a  bishop  of  their  own 
race."  Listening  to  the  words  of  the  white  leaders 
of  the  conference,  and  looking  at  the  subject  in  the 
light  of  cold  judgment,  I  said  to  myself:  "This 
conference  is  also  right  to  decline  the  request." 
This  instinctive  disposition  to  form  Church  affilia- 
tions on  the  color  basis  may  be  wise  or  unwise. 


TIIE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      199 

But  it  is  in  them — deep  in  them.  The  tendency  is 
strengthening  all  the  time.  This  instinct  will  never 
rest  satisfied  till  it  realizes  itself  in  complete  sepa- 
rations. The  movements  that  grow  out  of  race 
instincts  do  not  wait  upon  the  conclusions  of  phi- 
losophy ;  nor  do  they,  for  a  long  time,  take  counsel 
of  policy.  We  may,  all  of  us,  as  well  adjust  our 
plans  to  the  determined  and  inevitable  movements 
of  this  instinct,  that  does  not  reason,  but  that 
moves  steadily  and  resistlessly  to  accomplish  its 
ends.  It  is  a  very  grave  question  to  be  considered  by 
all  who  have  responsibility  in  the  matter,  whether 
over-repression  of  race  instincts  may  not  mar  their 
normal  evolution ;  may  not  introduce  elements  un- 
friendly to  healthful  growth  ;  may  not  result  in  explo- 
sions. I  have  seen  a  heavy  stone  wall  overturned 
by  a  root  that  was  once  a  tiny  white  fiber.  Instinct  is 
like  the  life-force  that  expresses  itself  in  life  or  death. 
Let  us  see.  "Is  it  race  instinct"  that  tends 
to  segregate  the  colored  man?  We  answer.  No. 
His  desire  to  segregate  is  only  a  self-defensive 
measure.  The  colored  man  in  this  country  is  des- 
perotely  in  earnest  in  his  effort  to  remove  every 
vestige  of  the  prejudice  against  him  arising  from 
his  previous  condition  of  servitude.  In  the  North 
he  found  that  the  white  people  knew  him  only  as  a 
slave  or  a  freed  man.  If  the  former,  then  he  was 
considered  a  mendicant — ignorant,  superstitious,  and 
immoral,  as  a  natural  result  of  slavery.  They 
could  not  think  of  taking  him  into  their  homes — 


200  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

cultured,  refined,  and  religious  homes — to  be  at 
once  associated  with  the  members  of  their  families. 
As  to  their  Churches,  he  was  wholly  unfitted  ft)r 
their  mode  of  worship ;  for  to  him  it  appeared 
foolishness,  fashion,  and  fastidiousness,  void  of  "  the 
true,  heart-felt  religion "  of  the  plantation  where 
**his  sous  and  his  daughters  prophesied,  his  old  men 
dreamed  dreams,  and  his  young  men  saw  visions." 
As  a  result,  he  pretty  soon  began  to  feel  uneasy, 
and  sighed  for  "  the  seasons  of  the  past."  The 
white  man  of  the  North  could  not  possibly  meet 
the  social  or  religious  demands  of  the  slave.  If  he 
put  him  in  the  parlor  or  school-room  with  white 
children,  or  in  the  congregation  of  the  Lord — 
though  given  a  front  seat,  and  in  every  conceiv- 
able way  made  welcome — he  was  uneasy.  Rev. 
Richard  Allen  says  that  it  "was  quite  a  task  for  me 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  St.  George's  Church,  in 
Philadelphia."  The  white  man  of  the  North  could 
not  make  the  colored  man  from  the  South  feel  at 
home.  If  he  had  had  a  separate  building  in  which 
to  allow  him  and  his  family  to  live,  it  would  have 
appeared  more  like  home  to  him.  I  do  not  here 
speak  of  the  many  noble  exceptions,  for  we  all 
know  "what's  bred  in  the  bone  is  not  easily  eradi- 
cated from  the  flesh."  It  is  a  hard  matter,  iu- 
deed,  in  after  years  to  change  all  at  once  the  habits 
of  men's  past  lives,  whether  they  be  religious, 
moral,  or  temporal.  Again,  the  white  man  of  the 
North  had  no  work  the  colored  man  of  the  South 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      201 

was  adapted  to  do.  The  house-work  usually  was  done 
either  by  "  the  hale  housewife  with  busy  care,"  or  by 
a  foreign  domestic.  The  same  was  true  of  the  out- 
door worlc.  All  this  iu  the  South  the  colored  mau 
enjoyed  without  a  rival.  The  whole  affair  was 
iu  an  abnormal  condition  with  the  colored  man 
from  the  South.  Those  who  doubt  these  statements 
have  but  to  note  the  line  of  demarkation  that  is 
not  even  yet  effaced  between  the  "  free  colored  mau 
of  the  North"  and  the  former  slave  colored  mau 
of  the  South,  to-day,  everywhere.  Their  mode  of 
Church  polity,  songs,  prayers,  sermons,  dress,  deport- 
ment, and  all,  are  different.  This  to-day  makes — 
for  awhile  at  least — the  colored  man  of  the  South 
in  the  North  shy,  not  to  say  uncomfortable.  What 
relation  could  be  farther  from  the  wishes  of  the 
poor,  ignorant,  and  superstitious  colored  man  of 
those  days  than  the  social  equality  granted  him  ? 
What  could  make  him  wish  more  to  be  carried 
"  back  to  his  old  Kentucky  home  ?" 

Every  effort  or  advance  made  by  the  white  man 
toward  the  colored  man  found  his  superstition  of 
white  men  repulsive.  First,  the  thought  would 
come  to  him,  "  I  should  suspect  some  danger  nigh, 
where  I  possess  delight."  Again,  the  colored  man 
of  the  South  knew  nothing  of  business  principles  in 
general,  and  of  the  Yankee  idea  of  business  princi- 
ples in  particular.  When  the  rigid  rules  of  active 
business  life  were  exacted  of  him  by  his  white 
Northern  neighbor  or  employer,  it  was  but  a  sad 


202  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

contrast  to  the  loose  aud  illegitimate  business  prin-, 
ciples  be  had  been  under  in  the  South,  and  it  was 
but  a  short  time  until  he  naturally  began  to  suspect 
that  the  Northern  white  man  thought  he  was  a 
thief.  Again,  after  the  war  the  better  class  of  col- 
ored men — such  as  the  land-owner,  the  stock-raiser, 
the  mechanic,  and  the  farmer,  aud  those  who  had 
some  learning — did  not  go  North.  In  1870  there 
ivere  residing  in  sixteen  Southern  States,  beginning 
with  Missouri,  west  with  Texas,  and  east  with  the 
Carolinas,  4,609,541,  being  15.8  of  the  whole  popu- 
lation ;  leaving  but  726,521  colored  people  else- 
where in  these  United  States.  As  late  as  1880 
there  were  6,200,646  colored  people  in  the  United 
States,  while  there  were  but  180,393  residing  in 
Northern  States.  It  took  but  very  little  induce- 
ment to  make  the  colored  man  believe,  therefore, 
that  while  the  white  man  of  the  North  had  helped  to 
free  him,  he  now  cared  but  little  for  him.  It  is 
true  that  "  birds  of  a  feather  do  flock  together," 
especially  young  birds;  at  any  rate,  throughout  the 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms  the  exam- 
ple is  given  by  nature  to  man,  in  that  all  these  only 
flourish  in  congenial  climates  and  soil,  wliile  for 
all  his  life  the  colored  man  had  been  taught  to  sus- 
pect the  Yankee  as  only  loving  him  for  what  he 
could  get  out  of  him.  Again,  in  the  South  the  col- 
ored man  had  seen  and  become  conversant  with  the 
irresponsible,  careless  plantation  life,  and  with  the 
prodigality  of  his  master,  who  thought  nothing  of 


THm  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     203 

tossing  him  a  quarter  now  and  then.  Up  North 
the  last  farthing  was  exacted  from  him ;  he  was  ex- 
pected to  pay  his  jiouse-rent,  grocery  bill,  keep 
clean,  and  make  but  little  noise  around  his  home, 
at  Church,  and  on  the  public  thoroughfares.  This  to 
him — recently  liberated — was  all  new  and  strange. 
If  he  became  disorderly,  the  white  man  of  the 
North,  instead  of  laughing  at  him,  and  passing  on 
the  oth^r  side,  would  at  once  have  him  arrested; 
if  dishonest,  punished.  He  had  been  used  to  "bet- 
ter things,"  as  he  thought;  and  hence  it  took  but 
little  persuasion  for  him  to  believe  the  white  man 
of  the  North  not  as  friendly  as  the  Southern 
white  man. 

To  say  that  the  cultivation  of  such  superstition 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  so-called  leading  colored 
men  was  an  advantage ;  that  such  talk  from  the 
"book-learned  colored  man,"  who  either  thought  he 
spoke  the  truth  or  perjured  himself,  had  the  effect 
of  segregating  the  colored  people  into  separate 
Churches,  is  apparent  to  all.  The  statement  of  the 
colored  man  who  is  reported  to  have  established  a 
bank  for  colored  folks  is,  to  my  mind,  illustrative 
at  this  point.  When  he  had  accumulated  two  or 
three  thousand  dollars  of  the  money  of  his  people 
he  tacked  a  card  on  his  front  door  with  this  in- 
scription: "This  bank  am  busted."  When  his  de- 
positors came  in  great  crowds  about  his  door,  and 
loudly  called  for  him,  he  came  forth  and  said : 
"  Now,  gentlemuns  and  ladies,  we  is  free.     We  must 


204  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

act  jus'  like  white  folks  do.  White  folks  put  money 
in  der  banks  and  de  banks  burst;  and  when  dey 
see  it,  den  dat's  de  end  ob  de  matter.  So  it  mus' 
be  wid  us."  This  is  said  to  have  satisfied  the 
creditors. 

When  some  colored  men  saw  the  advantage  of 
segregating  the  colored  people,  they  fouud  a  great 
amount  of  gratuitous  help.  Every  white  man, 
Avoman,  and  child,  who  objected  to  "  Negro  equality," 
at  once  lent  his  or  her  aid.  The  white  orator  and 
editor  and  preacher  of  this  class  joined  with  the  so- 
called  leader  in  segregating  the  colored  people. 
This  no  sane  man  will  deny.  And  now,  in  these 
latter  days,  philosophers  arise  and  declare  it  "  in- 
stinct." Everything  was  in  favor  of  the  segrega- 
tion. A  great  many  white  men,  as  well  as  a  great 
many  good  colored  men,  deprecated  this,  and  fought 
desperately  against  it.  In  "  Chauncey  Judd  "  we  have 
an  illustration  of  this  spirit,  even  as  early  as  Colo- 
nial days.  A  Presbyterian  minister  was  invited  to 
marry  a  free  colored  couple.  The  bargain  the 
groom  made  with  the  clergyman  was,  that  if  he 
would  marry  him  like  a  white  man  he  would  pay 
him  like  a  white  man.  The  bride  was  very  pretty, 
but  as  large  and  black  as  pretty.  The  guests  were 
of  both  races.  It  was  customary  at  that  day  for 
the  clergyman  to  kiss  the  bride.  This  the  clergy- 
man forgot  to  do,  for  some  reason.  When  about 
to  take  leave  of  the  couple  the  clergyman  inci- 
dentally remarked  that  the  ceremony  was   incom- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      205 

plete  without  "the  fee."  "Why,"  said  the  groom, 
"  I  sticks  to  de  coutrac'."  "  Well,  that  is  right," 
said  the  clergyman,  "for  you  said  if  I  would  marry 
you  like  a  white  mau  you  would  pay  me  like  a 
white  man."  "That's  jus'  so,"  said  the  groom, 
"but  you  didn't  kiss  the  bride."  "O  well,"  said 
the  clergyman,  "that  is  no  matter,  any  way." 
"O  well,  it's  no  matter  'bout  de  fee,  any  way,"  said 
the  groom. 

Colored  men  who  aspired  to  leadership  among 
the  colored  people,  and  were  willing  to  stoop  so  low, 
when  they  knew  better,  saw  that  the  support  of 
colored  men,  politically,  religiously,  or  morally, 
would  at  once  bring  them  prestige,  influence,  and 
power  with  white  men.  To  segregate  the  colored 
people  would,  as  Rev.  Richard  Allen  intimated, 
create  "  a  necessity  "  for  his  services.  If  they  re- 
mained associated  with  white  people,  there  would 
soon  come  a  time  when  it  would  be  impossible  for 
him  to  be  of  sqrvice  to  his  people  so  as  to  benefit 
himself  pecuniarily.  We  do  not  aim  here  to  charge 
all  leaders  of  the  race,  political  or  ecclesias- 
tical, with  perfidy,  but  to  prove  that  it  is  not 
"instinct"  alone  that  is  responsible  for  the  segre- 
gation of  the  race,  or  that  this  instinct  will  not 
allow  them  to  associate  on  perfect  equality  with 
white  people ;  that  it  is  not  ordained  of  God  that 
colored  members  must  be  under  colored  pastors 
in  colored  Churches,  controlled  by  colored  men 
exclusively.     That  the  disposition  of  the  more  iutcl- 


206  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

ligent  colored  man  of  the  North  rather  seeks 
separation  or  independency,  than  segregation,  is 
being  ocularly  demonstrated  annually,  and  becom- 
ing more  acceptable  as  he  becomes  more  cultured. 
If  this  be  not  so,  why  is  it  that  the  cultured  young 
colored  man,  who  "tips"  his  education  in  some 
Eastern  or  Northern  college,  comes  back  South,  dis- 
satisfied to  remain?  Dr.  Haygood  must  find  some 
better  and  more  philosophical  answer. 

It  is  a  fact  that  a  great  many  colored  men 
who  aspire  to  leadership  politically  and  ecclesiastic- 
ally, will  deny  what  we  have  here  said.  Indeed, 
we  would  have  hesitated  to  speak  so  plainly  were  it 
not  that  we  wish,  as  much  as  possible,  to  give  the 
bare  facts  of  the  case  as  they  appear  to  us,  aside 
from  any  personal  consideration.  We  believe, 
with  all  the  earnestness  and  candor  of  soul  and 
mind,  that  this  whole  "color-line"  question,  from 
beginning  to  end,  lies  at  the  feet  of  those  as- 
pirants; that  most  of  the  opprobium,  ostracism,  and 
caste  prejudice  that  did  and  do  now  exist  against 
the  race  in  this  country,  can  be,  and  is,  impartially 
and  legitimately  traced  to  that  source ;  and  that  the 
separate  African  Churches  in  this  country  are  the 
parents  of  not  less  than  ninety-five  per  cent  of  this 
hue  and  cry  against  Negro  social  equality.  They 
are  easily  conceived,  therefore,  to  be  the  causes  of  all 
other  ecclesiastical  unrest  and  "color-line"  separa- 
tions in  this  country.  This  is  so  evident  that  he 
who  runs  may  read  it. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     207 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  GENERAL  CONFERENCE  OF  1884. 

TO  the  General  Conference  of  1880  there  was 
presented  a  memorial  from  "  the  leading  edu- 
cators (fifty  in  number)  in  our  white  schools  in  the 
South,"  asking  that  the  work  of  the  Freedmen's 
Aid  Society  be  extended  so  as  to  aid  the  schools  of 
the  Church  in  the  South  where  only  white  pupils 
attended.  No  special  emphasis  was  put  upon  the 
matter,  save  that  of  "aiding"  the  above-named 
schools.  The  Committee  on  Frcedmen's  Aid  Work 
in  the  South  carefully  considered  the  subject,  and 
reported  to  that  conference  as  follows : 

"Your  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid  and 
Southern  Work  respectfully  report : 

"1.  That,  in  its  judgment,  the  present  organiza- 
tion of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  should  remain 
unchanged. 

"  2.  That  under  the  phrase  '  and  others '  of 
Article  IF,  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Freedmen's 
Aid  Society,  we  see  the  way  clear  to  aid  the  schools 
which  have  been  established  by  our  Church  in  the 
Southern  States  among  the  v/hite  people,  and  hereby 
ask  the  General  Conference  to  recommend  to  the 
Board  of  Managers  of  this  society  to  give  such  aid 
to  these  schools  during  the   next  quadrennium  as 


208  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

can  be  done  without  embarrassment  to  the  schools 
among  the  freedmen." 

As  soon  as  the  report  was  read,  considerable 
feeling  was  apparent.  The  question  had  hitherto 
seemed  of  small  importance.  While  the  report  was 
pending  the  feeling  manifest  found  vent  in  "a  mo- 
tion to  appropriate  twenty-five  per  cent  of  all 
moneys  raised  by  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  to 
schools  among  the  whites."  It  was  laid  on  the 
table.  After  this  there  seemed  a  determination  to 
separate,  if  possible,  the  educational  work  of  the 
Church  in  the  South  among  the  whites  from  that 
of  the  blacks.  Rev.  A.  J.  Kynett,  therefore,  offered 
the  following  as  a  substitute  for  the  second  item  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education  be,  and 
is  hereby,  instructed  to  make  such  provisions  as 
may  be  necessary  and  practicable  for  the  aid  of  our 
educational  institutions  in  the  South  not  aided  by 
the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society." 

Had  this  substitute  been  accepted,  we  certainly 
would  have  had  two  separate  and  distinct  educa- 
tional societies  within  the  Church;  the  Educational 
Society  would  have  been  so  burdened  as  to  have 
had  to  withdraw,  to  a  certain  extent,  from  the  plan 
of  aiding  indigent  students  as  hitherto,  or  increase 
it^  resources.  That,  at  any  rate,  to  have  thus  bur- 
dened it  would  have  crippled,  if  not  killed  it,  is 
suspected.  That  substitute  was  covered  by  the  fol- 
lowing as  a  substitute  for  the  whole : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      209 

Conference  the  present  organization  and  perpetuity 
of  tlie  Freedmeu's  Aid  Society  should  remain 
unchanged." 

But  both  these  substitutes  were  laid  on  the 
table.  The  other  extreme  view  was  manifested  by 
the  following  substitute,  which  went  the  way  of  the 
preceding : 

"Resolved,  1.  That  the  collections  of  the  Freed- 
meu's Aid  Society  shall  be  wholly  appropriatde  to 
aid  the  schools  for  the  colored  people. 

"  Resolved,  2.  That  the  Committee  on  Education 
be  requested  to  make  provisions  for  giving  aid  to 
schools  among  the  white  people  of  the  South." 

That  a  disposition  to  separate  the  educational 
work  of  the  Church  in  the  South  between  the 
races  prevailed,  appears  on  the  face  of  the  fore- 
going. The  report,  as  given  above,  was  then 
adopted.  It.is  plainly  seen  that  the  Church  did  not, 
even  in  this,  intend  to  be  partial  on  account  of  race 
or  color.  One  would  naturally  infer  from  the 
foregoing  and  that  which  follows,  that  considerable 
feeling  was  manifested.  In  Report  No.  2  of  the 
Committee  on  Freedmen  appears  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  That  our  pastors,  in  presenting  the 
claimg  of  this  society  to  the  Church,  should  remind 
our  people  that  a  portion  of  the  appropriations  of 
the  society  will  be  made  for  the  education  of  the 
white  population  connected  with  our  Church  in  the 
Southern  States,  but  not  to  the  embarrassment  of 
the  work  among  our  people  of  color." 

18 


210  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

This,  in  itself,  showed  that  the  friends  to  the 
educational  work  of  the  Church  among  the  white 
people  of  the  South  were  on  the  alort ;  that  the 
next  General  Conference  would  have  to  speak  out 
as  to  aiding  them. 

During  the  quadrennium  following  the  adjourn- 
ment of  that  General  Conference  the  question  of 
changing  the  name  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society 
was  discussed.  During  the  discussion  it  was  very 
evident  that  "the  color-line^'  was  being  crossed  and 
recrossed,  denied  and  affirmed,  objected  to  and  sup- 
ported, execrated  and  declared  a  blessing.  Some 
declared  that  the  reason  for  wanting  the  name  of 
the  society  changed  was:  (1)  Not  simply  that  the 
society  might  help  more  largely  in  carrying  on  edu- 
cational work  begun  by  our  white  membership)  in 
the  South,  but  (2)  to  make  them  eligible  to  such 
aid  without  being  considered  second  to  the  colored 
man,  or  seeming  to  have  to  accept  the  crumbs  that 
fall  from  the  colored  man's  table,  prepared  for  him 
by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  presence 
of  his  enemies;  (3)  that  those  who  are  willing  to 
aid  in  the  educational  work  of  the  Church  among  the 
whites,  without  any  of  it  being  used  to  help  colored 
students,  may  have  a  chance  thus  to  display  their 
liberality;  (4)  that  those  within  the  Church  who  have 
all  along  refused  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the 
benevolences  of  the  Church  because  of  their  ob- 
jection to  the  bringing  in  of  this  Gentile  proselyte 
on  an  equal  footing,  may  have  a  chance  to  empty 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      211 

their  liberal  gifts  iuto  the  coffers  of  the  Church. 
Indeed,  so  high  rau  this  discussion  during  the 
quadrcnnium,  that  some  even  went  so  far  as  to  de- 
clare it  an  effort  to  fan  anew  the  slumbering  but 
not  quenched  embers  of  caste  prejudice;  to  keep 
verdant  the  rank  weeds  of  race  prejudice  that  con- 
tinue to  grow  rank  and  prolific  in  the  swamps  and 
bayous,  on  the  mountains  and  hill-sides,  the  plains 
and  valleys  of  some  of  our  Church-work  in  the 
South.  This  question,  in  many  minds,  swung  around 
to  the  previous  conditions  of  the  two  races  within 
the  Church  in  the  South.  To  give  some  idea  of 
the  previous  conditions  of  the  two  races  within  the 
Church  in  the  South  hitherto,  we  quote  from  the 
address  of  the  president  of  the  society.  Bishop 
AYalden,  the  following: 

"Our  Church  had  access  to  two  classes  on  en- 
tering this  field, — the  whites  in  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  and  Texas, 
and  the  colored  people  in  all  of  the  States  from  which 
she  had  been  excluded.  The  condition  of  these 
classes  was  different.  The  whites  were  impover- 
ished by  the  war,  but  they  had  some  possessions 
and  some  kinds  of  business ;  they  had  church-build- 
ings, however  dilapidated ;  but  in  some  places  all 
Church  organizations  had  been  disbanded,  and  in 
other  places  the  connectional  bonds  were  broken ; 
they  were  ready,  however,  for  reorganization,  and 
in  Eastern  Tennessee  almost  an  entire  conference 
(the   Holston)   voluntarily  sought    and  was    given 


212  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

a  place  among  our  annual  conferences.  The  colored 
people  had  not  lost  property,  for  they  had  none  to 
lose ;  they  had  no  Church  organizations  nor  build- 
ings, and  their  Church  membership,  at  best,  was 
only  nominal;  all  they  had  was  their  recently  pro- 
claimed freedom  and  their  hands  trained  to  toil. 

"  Picture  to  yourselves  for  the  moment  those  to 
whom  our  Church  found  an  open  door — the  impov- 
erished and  almost  churchless  white  people,  and  the 
colored  people,  who  were  not  only  without  homes, 
but  without  the  relations  of  the  home ;  not  only 
without  earthly  possessions,  but  impoverished  in  the 
best  elements  of  their  nature.  It  may  be  no  marvel 
that  societies  were  soon  gathered  and  conferences 
soon  organized  among  the  whites,  for  with  them  it 
was  chiefly  a  work  of  reorganization  and  edifica- 
tion. But  what  of  the  work  among  the  freed 
people — those  who  had  only  toiled  as  house-servants 
and  slave-mechanics  and  field-hands  ?  Here,  among 
them,  the  very  foundations  of  Church-work  had  to 
be  laid,  and  our  first  movement  in  this  direction — 
the  necessary  and  the  right  movement — was  to  give 
them,  at  once,  their  normal  relation  in  and  to  the 
Church." 

Let  us  examine  the  status  of  these  two  classes. 
The  whites  had  been  (1)  "impoverished  by  the 
war,"  %vhether  they  took  sides  with  the  Union  or 
against  it.  If  the  latter  was  the  case,  it  is  evident 
that  they  had  been  slaveholders  themselves  or 
friendly   to    the   slave   oligarchy.     And   yet    these 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     213 

same  people  had  left  them  some  "possessions  and 
some  kinds  of  business."  They  had  "church-build- 
ings, however  dilapidated.  They  were  ready  for 
reorganization."  It  was  not  so  with  the  colored 
j)eople.  "  These  were  without  homes,  without  the 
relations  of  home ;  not  only  without  earthly  pos- 
sessions, but  impoverished  in  the  best  elements  of 
their  nature."  These  poor  colored  people  had 
never  had  the  advantages  of  any  enlightening  in- 
fluences save  such  as  came  to  "  house-servants,  slave- 
mechanics,  and  field-hands."  How  true  is  it  that 
"  here  among  them  the  very  foundations  of  Church- 
work  had  to  be  laid."  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  went  down  South  hunting  "the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel,"  for  whom  no  denomination 
seemed  to  care  much  at  that  time.  The  whites  had 
for  twenty  years,  more  or  less,  worshiped  with,  or 
were  members  of,  the  Southern  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church;  a  few  standing  alone  and  waiting  till  a 
better  day  appeared.  Here  was  an  opportunity  also 
to  turn  aside  and  give  aid  to  this  other  class  of  our 
membership  in  the  South,  by  teaching  them  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  Such  men  as  Rev.  John  P.  Newman  and 
Bishop  Gilbert  Haven  went  down  to  help.  Their 
eloquence,  erudition,  religious  and  moral  force,  told 
only  here  and  there.  Such  men  made  but  little 
headway  toward  tlie  bringing  in  of  "whole  annual 
conferences"  among  the  whites  into  our  Church. 
They  were  unpopular  save  among  the  poor  freed- 


214  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

men.  Some  of  the  white  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  in  the  South  have  no 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  that  does  not  come  to  them  unincumbered 
by  any  reminiscences  of  the  past  or  present  relations 
of  the  two  races.  The  growth  of  our  white  mem- 
bership in  the  South  during  the  last  ten  years  has 
been  considerable.  Is  it  not  strange  that  the 
whites  and  the  blacks  within  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the"  South  sustain  io-day,  in  some 
places,  the  same  relation  to  each  other  that  the 
Jews  used  to  sustain  to  the  Samaritans?  Do  we 
not  find,  just  along  here  somewhere,  the  key  to 
the  situation  in  the  South  wuthin  our  Church,  as 
well  as  cause  for  the  action  of  the  General  Con- 
ference above  referred  to  ? 

If  required  to  state  from  our  own  knowledge 
what  is  positively  believed  to  be  an  ungarnished 
truth,  we  would  say  that  so  far  as  a  majority  of  our 
white  membership  in  the  South  is  concerned  we,  as  a 
Church,  have  not  succeeded  in  dislodging  a  single 
one  of  the  old  prejudices  against  "race  and  color." 
It  is  known  that  there  are  beautiful  exceptions,  but 
they  are  like  angels'  visits  to  earth  nowadays. 
The  only  redeeming  feature  has  been,  that  the 
Church,  as  such,  has  never  yielded  a  single  point  in 
favor  of  caste  in  the  South.  We  have  known  in- 
stances where  white  preachers  of  white  congrega- 
tions in  our  Church  in  the  South  stayed  away  from 
colored  annual  conferences  to  keep  from  being  intro- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      215 

duced  as  members  of  our  Church.  The  instances  in 
tlie  South  in  which  the  white  ministers  demanded  a 
separate  conference,  because  of  the  relations  of  the 
two  races,  are  not  few.  The  Metliodist  Episcopal 
Church  understood  all  the  while  that  this  was 
the  condition  of  aifairs  in  every  nine  cases  in  ten 
in  the  South  where  "a  color-line  conference"  was 
desired.  Hence,  the  heart  of  the  Church  being 
right,  she  always  put  in  "a  proviso''  when  author- 
izing the  creation  or  division  of  conferences. 

The  action  taken  by  the  General  Conference  of 
1876  on  the  question,  corroborates  the  above  state- 
ment.    It  is  as  follows: 

"The  committee  have,  by  a  large  sub-committee, 
given  much  time  to  its  consideration,  and  have  in- 
vestigated carefully  the  matter  referred  to  them. 
They  have  considered  the  numerous  memorials,  pe- 
titions, and  resolutions  presented  to  the  General 
Conference  on  the  subject,  whether  from  annual 
conferences,  conventions,  or  private  individuals. 
They  have  consulted  with  most,  if  not  all,  the  dele- 
gates to  the  ^General  Conference,  who  represent 
conferences  particularly  interested  in  the  question 
of  division,  and  have  studied  the  history  of  the 
movements  in  several  conferences  seeking  to  effect 
or  prevent  division  within  a  few  years  past,  and 
report  the  following  result  of  its  investigation." 

Then  follows  a  concise,  yet  full,  statement  of  the 
reasons,  pro  and  con,  with  this  conclusion  : 

"  From  these  facts,  and  after  impartially  inquiring 


216  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

into  the  whole  subject,  your  committee  recommend 
for  adoption  the  following  resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  where  it  is  the  general  de- 
sire of  the  members  of  an  annual  conference  that 
there  should  be  no  division  of  such  conference  into 
two  or  more  conferences  in  the  same  territory ;  and 
where  it  is  not  clearly  to  be  seen  that  such  division 
would  favor  or  improve  the  state  of  the  work  in  any 
conference ;  and  where  the  interests  and  usefulness 
of  even  a  minority  of  the  members  of  such  confer- 
ence, and  of  the  members  of  Churches  in  such  con- 
ference, niight  be  damaged  or  imperiled  by  division, 
it  is  the  opinion  of  this  General  Conference  that 
such  division  should  not  be  made. 

"  Resolved,  2.  That  whenever  it  shall  be  re- 
quested by  a  majority  of  the  white  members,  and 
also  a  majority  of  the  colored  members,  of  any  an- 
nual conference,  that  it  be  divided,  then  it  is  the 
opinion  of  this  General  Conference  that  such  division 
should  be  made ;  and,  in  that  case,  the  bishop  pre- 
siding is  hereby  authorized  to  organize  the  new 
conference  or  conferences."  (Journal,  1876,  pp. 
329-331.) 

In  the  case  of  the  division  of  the  Tennessee 
Conference,  the  colored  members  retained  the  orig- 
inal name,  and  the  whites  had  to  find  a  descriptive, 
or  rather  distinctive,  adjective  to  retain  the  "Ten- 
nessee" part  of  the  name.  In  this  case,  if  not  in 
many  others,  general  dissatisfaction  and  injury  en- 
sued.    Aspiring  colored  men,  in  a  number  of  our 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     217 

own  colored  coiiforonees,  allowed  their  aspirations  for 
honors  to  exceed  their  better  judgment,  and  hence 
voted  "  aye  "  when  their  hearts  said  "  nay."  There 
was,  by  the  time  the  General  Conference  of  1884 
met  in  Philadelpliia,  a  party  among  the  delegates 
who  were  determined  to  do  one  of  two  things; 
either  to  bring  the  white  work  within  our  Church 
(tiiat  was  brought  under  the  fostering  care  of  the 
Freedmeu's  Aid  Society  by  the  words  "  and  others  " 
inserted  in  the  constitution)  up  to  an  equal  share 
of  the  money  appropriated  by  the  Church  for  its 
work  in  the  South,  or  else  have  the  Educational 
Society  take  entire  control  of  the  educational  Avork 
among  the  whites.  This  would  have  shaded  the 
demarkation  caste-line  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
Satanic  majesty,  and  at  the  same  time  turned  into 
other  channels  the  aid  hitherto  rendered  by  that 
society  to  indigent  colored  pupils,  and  would  have, 
by  this^  made  it  popular  indeed  to  be  a  white  Meth- 
odist within  the  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
"  without  any  unnecessary  contamination  with  any 
disturbing  element."  The  friends  of  humanity, 
equity,  and  righteousness  also  "trusted  God,  but 
kept  their  powder  dry."  The  conference  had  but 
fairly  got  to  work  when  the  oncoming  storm  began 
to  gather.  J.  M.  Shumpert,  under  the  call,  presented 
the  following,  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  State  of  the  Church : 

"  Inasmuch  as  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of 
discussion,  both  in  the  religious  and  secular  press, 

19 


218  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  caste  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  and 
inasmuch  as  caste  is  a  curse  to  any  nation,  and 
more  especially  to  a  religious  denomination  ;  and 
inasmuch  as  we  believe  that  caste  prejudice  is  a 
sin,  and  is  born  of  ignorance  and  hate,  tliat  it  nar- 
rows the  mind,  embitters  the  heart,  and  harms  the 
American  citizens,  both  as  men  and  as  Christians ; 
therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  General 
Conference  that  no  trustees  of  churches,  schools,  col- 
leges, or  universities,  nor  any  pastor,  principal,  presi- 
dent, or  any  other  person  in  authority  of  church  or 
school  property,  belonging  to  or  under  the  control 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  should  exclude 
any  person  or  persons  from  their  churches,  schools, 
colleges,  or  universities,  of  good  moral  character, 
on  account  of  color,  race,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  conflict.  At  the 
General  Conferences  we  all  understand  that  the 
"  fighting  "  is  all  done  in  the  committee-room.  That 
the  spirit  of  this  resolution  was  opposed  in  the 
committee-room  no  member  of  "the  Committee  on 
the  State  of  the  Church  "  will  deny.  To  one  who 
was  at  a  great  distance  from  the  scene  of  action  it 
appeared  that  the  forty-three  colored  delegates  in 
that  General  Conference  could  easily  be  seen  to  be- 
long to  the  two  elements  that  usually  make  up  our 
General  Conferences,  the  radical  and  conservative ; 
but  not  equally  divided.     Indeed,  there  were   not 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      219 

more  tban  five  "conservative"  of  the  forty-three. 
Now  I  have  used  the  words  "radical"  and  "con- 
servative," and  mean  by  these  terms  just  what  they 
have  meant  in  every  General  Conference  of  our 
Church  since,  if  not  before,  1840.  The  former 
believe  in  "hewing  to  the  line,  let  the  chips  fall 
where  they  may."  The  other  believes  it  better,  for 
policy's  sake,  to  be  lenient  to  the  extreme  of  com- 
promise in  some  instances.  In  that  General  Con- 
ference the  radicals  desired  to  march  into  the  field 
against  caste  prejudice,  floating  "the  black  flag." 
The  conservatives  wanted  to  be  all  things  to  some 
men  that  they  might  not  lose  any,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  "save  some."  It  is  easy  to  see  how  the 
thirty-eight  could  go  home  and  look  their  black 
constituents  squarely  in  the  face  and  say :  "  No 
timidity  or  other  inducement  persuaded  me  to  de- 
part from  the  wholesome  teachings  of  common  sense 
and  race  pride."  Before  the  intended  import  of  that 
last  sentence  is  misconstrued  we  add,  the  others, 
returning  home,  could  easily  have  said  to  their  con- 
stituents :  "  We  have  adopted  a  policy  for  future 
action  that  we  hope  will  bring  peace  out  of  confu- 
sion." The  ardent  desire  of  the  conservative  fac- 
tion to  change  the  name  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  was  closely  connected,  as  all  can  easily  see, 
with  the  question  of  caste  prejudice — whether  for  or 
against  we  do  not  stop  now  to  say.  The  question  of 
mixed  or  separate  schools  among  our  members  in  the 
South  had  been  discussed  during  the  quadrennium. 


220  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

The  establishment  of  the  Little  Rock  Univer- 
sity— overshadowing  that  section  of  the  conntry,  as 
well  as  Philander  Smith  College,  where  colored 
youth  were  being  educated — with  that  of  the  Chatta- 
nooga University,  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  helped 
to  agitate  the  question.  It  is  said  that  the  items 
touching  this  subject  were  presented  in  the  General 
Conference  by  a  resolution  adopted  without  ref- 
erence to  a  committee,  through  reports  from  the 
Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Work  in  the 
South,  and  through  a  resolution  from  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  State  of  the  Church.  Any  criticism 
in  opposition  to  work  done  for  the  whites  by  the 
Freedmen's  Aid  Society  was  broken  by  the  General 
Conference  adopting  the  following : 

"Resolved,  That  we  fully  indorse  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  during  the  past 
quadrennium." 

This  is  the  resolution  above  referred  to.  The 
following  was  part  of  the  work  done  and  reported 
to  that  General  Conference  as  its  administration 
during  the  quadrennium : 

"  The  following  sums  were  appropriated  to  schools 

among  whites : 

In  1879  and  1880, 

In  1880  and  1881, $2,600  00 

In  1881  and  1882, • 19,453  75 

In  1882  and  1883, 26,847  25 

Total  receipts  during  quadrennium,    ....  $437,986  S9 
Appropriations  for  schools  among  whites,  .    .      48,901  00 

Appropriations  for  schools  among  colored,  .   .  $389,085  89 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     221 

"The  whites  received  a  little  less  than  one-ninth 
of  the  receipts,  and  a  little  less  than  one-eighth  as 
much  as  the  colored  people." 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  "the  schools  among 
the  whites  "  were  not  constitutionally  eligible  to  aid 
from  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  until  after  the 
General  Conference  of  1880;  that  the  work  had  been 
chiefly  confined  to  its  then  legitimate  channel,  the 
colored  work,  and,  of  course,  appropriations  to  the 
work  among  the  colored  people  began  with  the  work 
of  the  society.  Viewed  from  that  point,  another 
phase  of  appropriations  appears. 

Resolutions  came  rather  briskly  and  presenting 
many  different  phases  of  the  question.  On  May 
12th,  Rev.  C.  O.  Fisher,  of  the  Savannah  Confer- 
ence, presented  the  following  resolution,  signed  by 
himself  and  twenty-two  others,  which,  on  motion, 
was  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  General  Conference  hereby 
confirms  and  reaffirms  the  opinion  previously  ex- 
pressed that  'color  is  no  bar  to  any  right  or  priv- 
ilege of  office  or  membership  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,'  but  we  recognize  the  propriety 
of  such  administration  as  will  hereafter,  as  hereto- 
fore, secure  the  largest  concession  to  individual 
preferences  on  all  questions  involving  merely  the 
social  relations  of  its  members." 

Now,  the  above  resolution  in  some  way  or  other, 
was  afterward  the  cause  of  no  little  dispute  as  to 
who    was    the    author   of  it,  and    who   signed    it. 


222  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

There  followed  some  discussion,  throiigli  the  papers, 
between  Dr.  Marshall  W.  Taylor  and  Dr.  Fisher 
as  to  it.  Like  Topsy  in  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  it 
seems  to  have  had  no  parents  at  all,  "but  jus' 
growed  up."  Its  purport,  some  declare,  was  not 
indorsed  by  all  who  signed  it.  It,  however,  was  a 
tally  for  the  conservative  element,  whether  so  in- 
tended or  not. 

Report  No.  3  of  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid 
and  Work  in  the  South  was  adopted  May  22d,  as 
follows : 

"  Your  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Work  in 
the  South  have  carefully  considered  the  several  memo- 
rials referred  to  us,  involving  the  question  of  separate  or 
mixed  schools  for  the  accommodation  of  our  colored  and 
white  membersliip  in  the  South,  aud  as  the  result  of  our 
deliberations  present  the  following : 

"It  is  an  historical  fact,  highly  honorable  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  that  she  has  been  the  con- 
stant friend  of  the  common  people,  and  especially  of  the 
colored  man. 

"The  Freedmen's  Aid  Society,  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  in  the  education  and  elevation  of  the 
freedmen,  is  the  unanswerable  proof  of  our  friendship 
to  them  in  the  hour  of  their  need.  Twenty-four  insti- 
tutions of  learning — academies,  seminaries,  colleges,  and 
theological  schools — established  and  maintained  among 
them  at  a  cost  of  more  than  $1,250,000  for  the  benefit 
of  the  colored  people,  constitute  a  magnificent  demon- 
stration of  our  devotion,  which  requires  no  elaboration 
and  admits  of  no  denial. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     223 

"  The  management  of  this  portion  of  our  educa- 
tional work,  we  believe,  in  the  main,  has  been  wise, 
efficient,  and  successful.  Our  effort  in  this  direction 
should  not  be  relaxed,  but  increased. 

"  The  establishment  of  schools  for  the  benefit  of  our 
white  membership  in  the  South  we  believe  to  have  been 
a  wise  and  necessary  measure.  Their  success  has  been 
gratifying.  The  beneficial  results  have  not  been  con- 
fined to  those  immediately  interested,  but  their  liberal- 
izing efiects  upon  public  sentiment  have  greatly  re- 
dounded to  the  advantage  of  our  colored  people.  We 
regret  that,  for  so  great  and  important  a  work,  so  little 
has  been  done  by  the  Church,  and  we  desire  most 
emphatically  to  give  expression  to  our  conviction  that 
the  time  has  come  when  this  portion  of  our  educational 
work  should  be  strengthened  and  placed  upon  a  strong 
and  permanent  basis,  as  its  importance  certainly  de- 
mands. To  the  question  of  mixed  schools  we  have 
given  our  most  serious  and  prayerful  attention.  It  is  a 
subject  beset  with  peculiar  difficulties.  That  the  colored 
man  has  a  just  and  equal  right,  not  only  to  life  and 
liberty,  but  also  to  the  means  of  grace  and  facilities  for 
educati<m,  we  not  only  admit,  but  most  positively  affirm. 

"  We  are  in  duty  bound  to  provide  for  and  to  secure 
to  every  class  of  our  membership,  so  far  as  possible,  a 
fair  and  equal  opportunity  in  Church  and  school  accom- 
modations. And  inso  far  as  this  is  done  our  duty  is  per- 
formed, and  the  equal  rights  justly  demanded  of  us  thus 
fairly  and  fully  conceded. 

"Mixed  congregations  and  mixed  schools,  may  in 
some  places,  be  most  desirable,  and  best  for  all  con- 
cerned.    In   other   places,  one  class   or   the    other,  or 


224  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

both,  may  prefer  separate  congregations  and  separate 
schools. 

"Equal  rights  to  the  best  facilites  for  intellectual 
and  spii-itual  culture,  equal  rights  in  the  eligibility  to 
every  position  of  honor  and  trust,  aud  equal  rights  in 
the  exercise  of  a  free  and  unconstrained  choice  in  all 
social  relations,  is  a  principle  at  once  American,  Meth- 
odistic,  and  Scriptural.     Therefore  : 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  Ave  most  sincerely  rejoice  in  the 
progress  made  iu  the  work  of  education  among  our 
colored  people  in  the  South,  and  pledge  ourselves  to 
stand  by  and  assist  them  in  the  further  prosecution  of 
this  work,  to  the  extent  of  our  ability,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  to  the  extent  of  their  need  in  this  direction. 

"2.  That  we  heartily  sympathize  with  our  white 
membership  in  the  South  in  their  efforts  to  provide 
adequate  educational  facilities  among  themselves,  and 
assure  them  of  such  co-operation  and  assistance  as  we 
may  be  able  to  render. 

"3.  That  the  question  of  separate  or  mixed  schools 
we  consider  one  of  expediency,  which  is  to  be  left  to 
the  choice  and  administration  of  those  on  the  ground 
and  more  immediately  concerned  :  Provided,  there  shall 
be  no  interference  with  the  rights  set  forth  in  this  pre- 
amble and  these  resolutions. 

"  4.  That  the  entire  educational  work  in  the  Southern 
States  should  be  under  the  direction  of  one  society. 

*'  5.  That  in  view  of  the  great  success  of  the  Freed- 
raen's  Aid  Society  during  the  past  four  years  in  carrying 
forward  the  educational  work  in  the  South,  this  society 
ought  to  have  the  full  charge  of  this  work  in  that  section. 

"6.  That  the  pastors,  in  presenting  the  claims   of 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     225 

this  society  in  making  appeals  for  funds,  should  state 
plainly  that  the  work  is  among  both  races,  and  that  all 
contributors  should  be  allowed,  whenever  they  may  desire 
to  do  so,  to  designate  where  their  gifts  shall  go." 

Report  No.  2— Adopted  May  23d. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  fully  appreciate  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  during  the  past 
quadrenuium." 

Report  No.  4 — Adopted  May  23D. 

**  Resolved,  That  an  appeal  be  made  to  the  whole 
Church  for  half  a  million  of  dollars  as  a  centennial  of- 
fering to  the  great  work  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society, 
and  while  through  all  other  portions  of  the  Church  the 
usual  agencies  are  employed  in  raising  this  amount,  the 
Freedmen's  Aid  Society  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed 
to  organize  and  prosecute  such  financial  effort  among  the 
conferences  of  the  South." 

Report  No.  5 — Adopted  May  23D. 

^^ Resolved,  That  it  would  be  unwise,  by  addition  or 
otherwise,  to  change  the  name  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society." 

Report  No.  6 — Adopted  May  230. 

"Your  committee  recommend  the  following  changes 
in  the  Discipline,  so  that  paragraph  1  shall  read  : 

"  '  For  the  mental  and  moral  elevation  of  freedmen 
and  others  in  the  South,  who  have  special  claims  upon 
the  people  of  America  for  help  in  the  work  of  Christian 
education.* 

"Paragraph  310:  *It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each 
preacher  in  charge  to  present  this  subject  to  his  congre- 
gation, or  cause  it  to  be  presented,  once  each  year  in  a 


226  TUE  COLORED  MAN. 

sermon  or  address ;  to  aid  in  the  diffusion  of  intelligence 
in  regard  to  the  work  of  the  society,  and  to  use  due  dili- 
gence to  collect  the  amount  apportioned  to  his  charge. 
He  shall  report  to  the  annual  conference  the  sum  col- 
lected, and  the  collections  shall  be  published  in  a  column 
in  the  General  Minutes,  and  in  the  Minutes  of  the  an- 
nual conferences.  In  presenting  the  claims  of  this  so- 
ciety, the  preacher  in  charge  shall  state  plainly  that  the 
educational  work  of  the  society  is  among  both  white  and 
colored  people." 

From  Committee  on  State    of   the  Church,  Report 
No.  4 — Adopted  May  28th. 

"  Your  committee  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following 
for  your  adoption,  namely: 

"  Eesolved,  That  this  General  Ccmference  declares 
the  policy  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  be,  that 
no  member  of  any  society  within  the  Church  shall  be 
excluded  from  public  worship  in  any  and  every  edifice 
of  the  denomination,  and  no  student  shall  be  excluded 
from  instruction  in  any  and  every  school  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Church  because  of  race,  color  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude." 

Prom  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Work  in  the 
South,  Report  No.  7— Adopted  May  28TH. 

"  The  following  statement  of  facts  and  conclusions  re- 
specting the  work  of  our  Church  in  the  South  is  respect- 
fully submitted  by  the  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid 
and  Work  in  the  South : 

"  The  growth  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  Southern  States  since  the  close  of  the  late  war  is 
one  of  the  marvels  of  modern  Church  history.     Nine- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,     2T1 

teen  years  ago — 1864 — the  Church  had  within  the  border 
States  of  Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and 
Missouri,  332  effective  preachers,  71,037  white  com- 
municants, and  18,770  colored  members.  Now,  in  the 
sixteen  former  slave  States  and  the  District  of  Columbia, 
she  has  twelve  conferences  among  the  whites,  with  693 
effective  preachers,  and  170,710  communicants;  thirteen 
conferences  among  the  colored  people,  with  678  effective 
preachers,  and  186,326  members.  To  these  must  be 
added  three  mixed  conferences — two  in  Missouri  and 
one  in  Florida — with  218  effective  preachers,  and  41,054 
members,  most  of  whom  are  white  persons.  These  alto- 
gether make  28  annual  conferences,  with  1,589  effective 
preachers,  and  398,090  communicants. 

"This  vast  membership  represents  a  following  through- 
out the  South  of  not  less  than  2,000,000  of  people. 
Taking  the  South  as  a  whole,  this  membership  and  fol- 
lowing are  divided  about  equally  between  the  white  and 
colored  races — About  203,000  white  members,  and  about 
195,000  colored  members.  In  the  border  States  our 
strength  is  more  largely  among  the  white  people ;  in  our 
new  Southern  work,  in  the  eleven  States  where  the 
Church  had  nothing  at  the  close  of  the  war,  our  devel- 
opment has  been  larger  among  the  colored  people ;  but 
in  these  eleven  States  a  white  membership  of  51,961 
has  been  gathered.  Over  3,500  new  church  buildings 
have  been  erected  on  what  was  slave  territory  in  1860. 
The  increase  in  Church  parsonage  property  has  been 
$6,282,723,  and  of  membership  308,183.  This  is  an 
average  of  over  20,000  member  sand  $350,000  annually. 

"Nearly  one- fourth  of  the  entire  membership  of  ti»e 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  now  on  what  was  slave 


228  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

territory,  where,  but  a  few  years  ago,  the  Church  had 
no  existence  except  in  a  few  localities. 

"Not  less  remarkable  has  been  the  educational  de- 
velopment of  our  Church  in  the  South.  Since  the  late 
war,  48  colleges  and  seminaries  have  been  established, 
and  in  these  there  are  194  instructors  and  over  6,000 
young  men  and  women.  Of  these  schools  24  are  among 
the  colored  people,  and  24  among  the  wliite  people. 
These  latter  have  been  established  almost  entirely  by 
our  white  members  themselves.  These  48  institutions 
of  learning  are  nearly  one-third  in  number  of  all  the  in- 
stitutions of  learning  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  have  in  them  25  per  cent  of  all  persons  being 
taught  by  our  Church. 

"The  day  of  prosperity  for  the  South  is  at  hand, 
and  the  great  questions  affecting  its  civilization  are  being 
rapidly  settled,  and  the  spirit  of  fraternity  and  mutual 
helpfulness  among  all  moral  and  educational  forces 
at  the  South  is  rapidly  prevailing.  TKe  presence  and 
success  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
South  have  tended  largely  to  these  beneficent  results; 
therefore, 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  as  a  General  Conference  we  ren- 
der thanks  to  God  for  the  success  that  has  attended  the 
work  of  our  Church  in  the  Southern  States,  by  which  it 
has  come  to  be  permanently  planted  in  every  State  in 
that  section,  so  that  we  are  now,  in  the  matter  of  occu- 
pation as  well  as  administration,  a  national  Church. 

^^  Resolved,  2.  That  we  extend  cordial  greetings  and 
benedictions  to  all  our  people,  our  teachers  and  pastors 
in  the  Southern  States,  and  rejoice  with  them  in  their 
success,  and  sympathize  with  them  in  their  labors ;  and 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     229 

we  pledge  to  them,  iu  behalf  of  the  whole  Church,  the 
largest  possible  co-operatioii  and  help  in  every  good  word 
and  Avork." 

It  can  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  there  was  much 
conflict  over  the  questions  growing  out  of  the  rela- 
tions of  the  two  races  within  the  Church  in  the 
South  in  that  General  Conference.  Notwithstand- 
ing, it  elected  a  representative  colored  man — W.  H. 
Crogman,  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in  our 
Clark  University,  at  Atlanta,  Ga. — one  of  its  secre- 
taries; elected  another — Rev.  A.  E.  P.  Albert, 
D.  D.,  of  Louisiana  Conference — secretary  of  Com- 
mittee on  State  of  the  Church ;  elected  Rev. 
Marshall  W.  Taylor,  D.  D.,  editor-in-chief  of  one 
of  the  Church  papers;  yet  it  is  difficult  for  some 
persons  to  understand  clearly  what  was  meant  by 
the  action  taken  touching  the  color  question. 


230  THE  COLORED  MAN. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  PROBLEM. 

JUST  what  was  intended  by  that  General  Confer- 
ence touching  this  vexed  question  may  be  easily 
found  out,  if  allowed  to  take  as  a  basis  the  trite 
saying,  "We  have  no  way  of  judging  the  future  but 
by  the  past."  The  declarations  of  the  several  Gen- 
eral Conferences  of  our  Church  warrant  us  in  de- 
claring the  following  as  her  principles :  "  (1)  God 
made  of  one  blood  all  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face 
of  the  earth ;  (2)  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  ; 
but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh 
righteousness,  is  accepted  with  him."  The  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  is  either  founded  upon  and 
guided  by  the  Word  of  God,  or  is  nothing.  The 
Church  further  declared :  "  (1)  There  is  no  word 
'white'  to  discriminate  against  race  or  color  known 
in  our  legislation;  (2)  Being  of  African  descent 
does  not  prevent  membership  ^oith  ivhite  men  in  an- 
nual conferences ;  (3)  Nor  ordination  at  the  same 
altars;  (4)  Nor  appointment  to  presiding  elder- 
ship; (5)  Nor  election  to  the  General  Conference;  (6) 
Nor  eligibility  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  Church." 
(Journal,  1872,  p.  373.)  That  the  actions  of  that 
General  Conference  on  the  color  question  were 
enigmatical,  the  following  will  declare.    The  decla- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     231 

ration  of  the  General  Conference  of  1880  naturally 
led  to,  if  it  did  not  bring  about,  the  entire  dis- 
cussion.    The  declaration  was  as  follows : 

"2.  That  under  the  phrase  'and  others'  of  Ar- 
ticle II,  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society,  we  see  the  way  clear  to  aid  the  schools 
which  have  been  established  by  our  Church  in  the 
Southern  States  among  the  white  people,  and  hereby 
ask  the  General  Conference  to  recommend  to  the 
board  of  managers  of  this  society  to  give  such  aid 
to  these  schools  during  the  next  quadrenuium  as  can 
be  done  without  embarrassment  to  the  schools 
among  the  Freedmen." 

If  the  words  "to  aid  the  schools  which  have 
been  established  by  our  Church  in  the  Southern 
States  among  the  white  people,"  had  been  "the 
schools  established  in  the  Southern  States  among 
our  white  members,  to  be  held  sacredly  for  them  to 
the  exclusion  of  colored  pupils,"  it  would  have  died 
on  the  spot,  and  been  buried  uncojined,  unknelled,  and 
unknown.  It  may  be  that  a  wrong  construction  is 
put  on  the  former  by  the  insertion  of  the  latter 
words.  If  so,  the  sequel  will  so  declare  it.  If 
not,  then  the  phraseology  was,  and  is,  misleading. 
But  it  was  adopted.  AVhat  does  it  say  ?  That  the 
already  existing  exclusive  schools  for  the  whites, 
established  within  the  Church  in  the  Southern 
States,  are  to  be  fostered  by  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society,  with  the  provision  that,  as  a  result,  no  em- 
barrassment come  to  the  schools  for  the  freedmon. 


232  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Docs  not  that  provision  imply  separate  schools? 
We  are  trying  simply  to  state  facts  as  they  exist, 
without  committal  on  the  subject  at  this  time. 

In  the  last  General  Conference  the  second  report 
on  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Work  in  the  South,  offered 
by  Rev.  J.  C.  Hartzell,  D.  D.,  indorsed  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  society  during  the  qnadren- 
nium.  If  the  discussion  that  preceded  that  General 
Conference  meant  anything,  it  meant  that  it  did  not 
indorse  the  Little  Rock  and  Chattanooga  enter- 
prises as  projected.  The  resolution  offered  by  Rev. 
C.  O.  Fisher,  D.  D.,  of  Savannah  Conference,  and 
adopted  by  that  General  Conference,  without  refer- 
ence to  any  committee,  declared  it  the  sense  of  the 
General  Conference  that  color  is  no  bar  to  any 
right  or  privilege  of  office  or  membership  in  the 
Church';  that  the  propriety  is  recognized  of  so  ad- 
ministering its  affairs  as  "hereafter,  as  heretofore, 
to  secure  the  largest  concession  to  individual  pref- 
erences involving  merely  the  social  relations  of 
its  members."  No  valid  objection  can  be  offered  to 
the  last  proposition.  If  it  simply  means  that  any 
and  every  member  of  the  Church  has  the  right  to 
attend  Church  or  schools  wherever  he  pleases,  with- 
out let  or  molestation  so  far  as  laio  goes,  it  is 
simply  another  way  of  declaring  the  equality  of 
each  and  every  member  of  the  Church  so  far  as 
privileges  are  concerned.  If  the  above  supposition 
is  true,  any  objection  on  account  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition,  raised  by  any  one  in  authority 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,     233 

over  Churches  or  schools  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Church,  is  a  flagrant  violation  of  her  law.  We  can 
conceive  of  but  three  valid  reasons  for  any  man 
offering  such  a  resolution  in  a  General  Conference 
of  a  Church  that  has  always  conceded  such,  viz. : 
(1)  To'show  liberal-mindedness.  (2)  That  there  is 
no  caste  or  race  prejudice  concealed  among  the 
colored  members  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  that  would  cramp  another  member,  or  de- 
sires to  insinuate  itself  upon  the  rights  and  pre- 
rogatives of  others.  (3)  To  prevent  any  unneces- 
sary bickerings  between  the  two  races  within  the 
Church  in  the  South.  On  top  of  the  above  came 
the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Freed  men's  Aid 
and  Work  in  the  South.  It  declared  the  Church  a 
friend  to  the  colored  man,  and  cited  as  evidence  the 
work  done  by  the  society — twenty-four  institutions 
of  learning,  connecting  with  it  the  expenditure  of 
$1,250,000.  That  this  management  was  (a)  wise, 
(6)  efficient,  and  (c)  successful.  Then  came  the 
other  side  of  the  question  ;  the  establishment  of 
schools  for  the  benefit  of  "the  whites"  within  the 
Church  in  the  South  was  (1)  wise,  (2)  necessary, 
(3)  gratifyingly  successful,  and  had  had  a  liberalizing 
effect  upon  public  sentiment  there  that  redounds  to 
the  advantage  of  the  colored  man ;  that  it  was  a 
pity  no  more  had  been  done,  and  it  should  be  put 
upon  a  strong,  permanent  basis.  Then  came  the 
mixed   school   question.      As    to    the    colored    man, 

he  was  justly  entitled  to  e(jual   rights  of  not  only 

20 


234  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

"life  and  liberty,"  but  to  the  means  of  grace  and 
proper  facilities  for  education ;  that  the  Church  is 
bound  to  provide  and  secure  to  every  class  of  its 
members,  as  far  as  possible,  a  fair  and  equal  oppor- 
tunity in  Church  and  school  accommodations.  As 
to  mixed  congregations  and  schools,  they  "  were  in 
some  places  most  desirable  and  best  for  all"  (North, 
we  presume),  "in  other  places  [South,  we  guess], 
one  or  the  other,  or  both,  may  prefer  separate  con- 
gregations and  schools."  The  question  of  equal 
rights  is  declared  :  (1)  "  To  be  the  best  facilities  for 
intellectual  and  spiritual  culture;  (2)  in  the  eligi- 
bility to  every  position  of  honor  and  trust;  and 
(3)  in  the  exercise  of  a  free  and  unconstrained  choice 
in  all  social  relations."  This  was  declared  "a  prin- 
ciple at  once  American,  Methodistic,  and  Scriptural." 
Then  come  the  resolutions.  The  first  rejoices  in 
the  work  done  among  and  for  the  colored  people, 
supports  a  pledge  to  stand  by  and  support  it  to 
the  extent  of  its  needs,  measured  by  the  ability  of 
the  Church,  The  next  two  resolutions  are  the  most 
objectionable  offered,  viz.  : 

"2.  That  we  heartily  sympathize  with  our  white 
membership  in  the  South  in  their  efforts  to  provide 
adequate  educational  facilities  among  themselves,  and 
assure  them  of  such  co-operation  and  assistance  as 
we  may  be  able  to  render. 

"3.  That  the  question  of  separate  or  mixed 
schools  we  consider  one  of  expediency,  which  is  to 
be  left  to  the  choice  and  administration  of  those 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     235 

on  the  ground  and  more  immediately  concerned:  Pro- 
vided, there  shall  be  no  interference  with  the  rights 
set  forth  in  this  preamble  and  these  resolutions." 

Let  us  scrutinize  these  a  moment.  The  General 
Conference,  by  the  adoption  of  these  two  resolutions, 
sympathized  with  an  effort  "to  provide  adequate 
educational  facilities  among  themselves" — the  white 
members  of  our  Church  in  the  South.  If  disposed 
to  hunt  objections,  we  would  say  they  had  already 
'adequate  educational  facilities,"  as  a  result  of  the 
educational  work  done  by  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
ciety, if  they  would  have  accepted  them,  and  with- 
out additional  efforts  on  their  part.  Again,  the 
General  Conference,  by  its  action,  desired  to  "assure 
them  of  such  co-operation  and  assistance  as  we  may 
be  able  to  render."  It  may  be  short-sightedness  or 
ignorance  to  say  so,  but  the  way  these  resolutions 
read  they  certainly  seem  not  only  not  to  object  to 
discrimination,  but  to  encourage  it. 

By  the  second  resolution  the  question  of  mixed 
or  separate  schools  was  declared  :  (1)  "  One  of  ex- 
pediency, to  be  left  to  the  choice  and  administration 
of  those  on  the  ground,  and  more  immediately  con- 
cerned." That  which  is  expedient,  Webster  de- 
clares "a  means  to  an  end."  Was  it  so  intended  in 
that  resolution?  "Those  on  the  ground  and  more 
immediately  concerned"  were  undoubtedly  the  trus- 
tees, teachers,  and  patrons  of  the  schools  among 
the  whites  in  our  Church.  (2)  "  Provided,  there  shall 
be  no  interference  with  the  rights  set  forth  in  this — 


236  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

the  foregoing — preamble  and  these  resolutions." 
The  preamble  declared :  "  (1)  Equal  rights  to  the 
best  facilities  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  culture, 
equal  rights  in  the  eligibility  to  every  position  of 
honor  and  trust,  and  equal  rights  in  the  exercise  of 
a  free  and  unconstrained  choice  in  all  social  rela- 
tions as  a  principle  at  once  American,  Method istic, 
and  Scriptural."  Now  let  us  put  this  and  tliid 
together;  who  is  to  decide  what  are  "the  best  fa- 
cilities for  intellectual  and  spiritual  culture?"  Ac- 
cording to  the  principle  of  expediency — "the  means 
to  an  end" — undoubtedly  it  must  be  decided  by 
"those  on  the  ground  and  more  immediately  con- 
cerned." Now,  the  question  as  to  whether  the 
contributors — the  'majority  of  the  most  liberal  con- 
tributors— are  "more  immediately  concerned,"  we 
do  not  stop  to  say.  Having  completed  the  addi- 
tion, what  do  we  find  as  a  rational  conclusion  ? 
What  are  we  to  understand  by  "the  exercise  of  a 
free  and  unconstrained  choice  in  all  social  rela- 
tions ?"  Webster  says :  "  The  word  constrain  comes 
from  the  Latin  constringere.  This  is  composed  of  con 
and  stringere,  to  draw  tight,  to  strain ;  a  strong, 
binding  force ;  to  hold  back  by  force."  The  word 
used  is  unconstrained.  I  suppose  we  can  conclude 
it  means  without  constraint.  The  question  naturally 
arises,  Had  there  been  any  constraint  in  our  work  in 
the  South?  If  so,  at  what  point?  Touching  what 
phase  of  the  work  ?  Whatever  constraint  the  work 
in  the  South  has  been  laboring  under,  the  Church 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      237 

was  responsible  for  it.  Was  it  that  "  race,  color,  nor 
previous  condition  "  should  be  a  bar  to  the  full  and 
equal  rights  of  its  members  in  Church,  school,  or 
office?  There  must  have  been  some  constraint,  or 
the  word  "  unconstrained  "  is  meaningless,  as  used. 
But  whatever  constrained  choice  existed  previously, 
it  was  so  intended,  and  that  resolution  did  abro- 
gate, if  it  has  any  force  at  all.  What  did  "  those 
on  the  ground  and  more  immediately  concerned " 
understand  it  to  mean  ?  Rather,  what  naturally 
grew  out  of  it? 

THE  CHATTANOOGA  EPISODE. 

An  educational  convention  was  held  in  Athens, 
Tennessee,  in  1882,  composed  of  delegates  from 
nearly  all  our  conferences,  composed  exclusively  of 
white  people,  for  the  purpose  of  "looking  after  the 
educational  interests  of  the  work  among  the  whites." 
The  question  of  the  establishment  of  a  university 
for  the  benefit  of  the  white  members  and  patrons 
of  our  Church  in  the  central  South  was  decided 
upon,  and  a  plan  was  adopted  for  the  co-operation 
of  the  conferences  and  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  in 
founding  and  locating  the  same,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  conferences.  "  This  action  was  heartily 
and  unanimously  concurred  in  by  the  pastors  and 
educators  among  the  whites."  Considering  their 
modus  operandi  "the  best  for  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual culture,"  as  well  as  the  most  direct  and  prac- 
tical "  exercise  of  a  free  and  unconstrained  choice 


238  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

in  all  social  relations,  as  a  principle  at  once  Amer- 
ican, Metbodistic,  and  Scriptural,"  it  was  accepted  by 
"tbose  on  tbe  ground  and  more  immediately  con- 
cerned," and  "left  to  tbeir  cboice  and  administra- 
tion." Cbattanooga  was  cbosen  as  tbe  seat  of  tbe 
great  university  in  tbe  central  South  for  wbites. 
Now,  if  no  otber  reason  could  bave  been  given  for 
tbat  choice,  the  fact  that  from  Lookout  Mountain 
tbe  rebel  soldiers  were  driven  by  General  Grant 
during  tbe  late  civil  war  w^as  sufficient  for  historical 
prestige.  Tbe  relevancy  of  tbe  following  quota- 
tion from  Ridpath's  History,  giving  an  account  of 
the  movements  of  General  Grant  around  tbat  city 
during  tbe  civil  war,  may  not  at  once  appear  to 
all.  He  says:  "General  Grant,  being  promoted  to 
tbe  chief  command,  assumed  the  direction  of  affairs 
at  Cbattanooga.  General  Sherman  also  arrived  with 
his  divisions,  and  offensive  operations  were  at  once 
renewed.  A  position  seemingly  more  impregnable 
could  hardly  be  conceived  of."  Cbattanooga  having 
been  selected  as  the  place  for  "a  central  university 
for  the  South,"  fourteen  acres  of  ground,  costing 
thirty-one  thousand  dollars,  were  purchased,  and  a 
magnificent  structure,  costing  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars, was  erected  thereon.  Of  this  amount  tbe  citi- 
zens of  tbe  city  contributed  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  some  of  tbe  contributors 
of  that  sum,  at  least,  gave  tbeir  money  with  tbe 
distinct  understanding  that  tbe  university  was  to 
be  for  tbe  benefit  of  white  pupih  exclusively.     This 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      239 

intelligence  was  not  received  from  the  managers  of 
the  Freed  men's  Aid  Society,  as  such ;  so  that,  if  at 
all,  it  may  have  been  received  from  some  of  "  those 
on  the  ground  and  more  immediately  concerned." 
AVhen  the  university  opened,  September  15,  188G, 
everything  looked  hopeful,  indeed,  to  "those  on  the 
ground  and  more  immediately  concerned."  But 
soon  it  was  found  that  the  brightness  of  those  pros- 
pects was  but  the  silver  lining  of  an  approaching 
cloud.  Two  incidents  happened  shortly  afterward 
that  gave  that  institution  more  prominence  than  any 
other  two  incidents  in  its  history  can  possibly 
ever  do.  Among  the  students  who  applied  for  ad- 
mittance into  the  institution  were  four  colored 
youths  of  that  city  or  vicinity.  The  trustees  of 
the  institution  refused  to  admit  them.  The  board 
of  trustees,  by  contract  with  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society,  reserved  the  right,  not  only  to  appoint  the 
teachers,  but  to  purchase  the  property  whenever 
they  became  able  to  pay  back  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars  to  the  society,  and  give  the  university  an 
endowment  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  But 
one  of  the  incidents  happened  before  anythiug 
was  said  about  the  rejection  of  colored  students. 
One  of  the  professors  in  the  university — Professor 
Caulkins — met  and  was  introduced  to  the  pastor  of 
our  colored  Church  in  Chattanooga,  Rev.  B.  H. 
Johnson,  by  Rev.  Dr.  T.  C.  Carter,  and  he  refused 
to  shake  hands  with  or  recognize  him  "on  general 
principles,"  as  he  declared.     The  following,  which 


240  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

appeared    in    the    Western    Christian    Advocate,,  is 
explicit  and  to  the  point : 

PROFESSOR  CAULKINS. 

"In  another  column  will  be  found  a  statement  from 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Freedmeu's  Aid  Society, 
concerning  the  episode  in  which  Professor  Caulkins  and 
the  Rev.  B.  H.  Johnson  were  the  principal  participants. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  executive  committee  acted  in 
the  case  with  great  promj)tuess  and  decision,  the  com- 
mittee's first  action  having  been  taken  within  four  days 
after  the  first  rumor  of  the  case  reached  any  member  of 
the  committee. 

"The  following  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  meet- 
ing of  October  26th  will  show  the  precise  action  which 
was  taken  at  that  early  day : 

"'Dr.  Bayliss  moved  that  the  corresponding  secre- 
tary be  instructed  to  ascertain  whether  it  be  true  that 
Professor  Caulkins,  of  Chattanooga  University,  refused 
to  shake  hands  with  one  of  our  pastors  in  Chattanooga 
because  he  was  a  Negro ;  and  also  in  a  series  of  arti- 
cles made  disparaging  remarks,  and  used  insulting  lan- 
guage in  reference  to  the  colored  people,  and  that  if 
these  rumors  should  prove  true,  the  president  shall  lay 
the  matter  before  the  local  board,  and  ask  for  his  resig- 
nation.    Carried.' 

"If  any  one  should  be  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
the  inquiry  was  not  prosecuted  as  rapidly  as  it  should 
have  been,  it  must  be  considered  that  immediately  after 
the  sub-committee  was  appointed.  Bishop  Walden  was 
necessarily  in  attendance  at  the  meeting  of  the  bisliops ; 
that  Bishop  Walden,  Dr.  Cranston,  and  the  editor  of 
this  paper,  all  of  whom  are  members  of  the  executive 


MEHARKY  MEDICAL  COLLEGE,  WASHVILLE,  TKNN. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     241 

committee,  were  necessarily  at  the  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
eral Missionary  Committee  in  New  York,  which  was 
held  just  after  the  bishops'  meeting;  that  the  president 
of  the  society  was  immediately  afterward  called  to  Phila- 
delphia to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Church  Exten- 
sion Committee,  and  that  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Freedmen's  Aid  Society  was  held  in  Boston  on  tlie  23d 
of  November,  at  which  it  was  necessary  for  both  the 
president  and  secretary  of  the  society  to  be  present. 
Thus  the  month  of  November  was  crowded  full  of  travel 
and  work,  and  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  have  a  meetiug 
of  the  executive  committee  until  December  1st,  when 
a  meeting  was  held.  The  general  history  of  the  in- 
quiry is  given  in  the  '  Statement,'  and  need  not  be 
repeated  here. 

"We  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  board  of  trus- 
tees of  the  university  will  act  in  the  case  without  delay, 
and  we  are  therefore  not  disposed  at  this  time  to  enter  upon 
any  discussion  of  it.  Our  views  are  clear,  and  if  it  shall 
become  necessary  we  shall  have  no  hesitation  in  justify- 
ing them.  Professor  Caulkins's  moral  character  is  not 
involved  in  the  case.  That  he  is  a  fine  scholar  and 
teacher,  and  that  he  means  to  be  a  gentleman,  we  fully 
believe.  At  the  same  time  we  also  believe  that  his  views 
and  feelings  upon  what  is  known  as  the  'color  ques- 
tion,' or  the  'Negro  question,'  are  such  as  to  make  him 
an  improper  person  to  hold  a  position  as  teacher  in  a 
school  officially  connected  with  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
ciety. We  say  this  after  having  heard  the  case  freely 
stated  by  Mr.  Johnson,  Professor  Caulkins,  and  Dr. 
Carter,  and  after  hearing  the  declarations  of  others  who 
have  knowledge  of  Professor  Caulkins's  views.     At  this 

21 


242  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

time,  however,  we  do  not  thiuk  it  necessary  to  discuss 
the  statements  which  we  have  heard,  and  thus  prove 
the  justness  of  our  conclusions.  The  trustees  of  the  uni- 
versity have  access  to  all  the  parties  intei-ested,  and  we  pre- 
fer to  leave  the  case  in  their  hands  for  final  adjudication, 
as  they  constitute  the  body  which  has  the  power  to  dis- 
miss teachers.  We  only  add  that  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  can  not,  and 
in  our  judgment  will  not,  continue  in  its  employ  any 
person  who  is  capable  of  showing  disrespect,  under  any 
circumstances,  to  a  colored  person  because  he  is  colored. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  the  exponent  of  a 
nobler  sentiment,  and  will  not  stultify  herself  by  allow- 
ing one  of  her  great  benevolent  societies  to  employ  as  a 
teacher  in  one  of  our  schools,  any  man  who  stands  for 
the  views  which  the  country  has  inherited  from  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery ;  and  in  this  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
ciety is  in  exact  harmony  with  the  views  of  the  Church. 
The  black  man  is  a  man,  and  the  fact  must  be  recognized." 

STATEMENT 
FROM  the;  executive   committee  of  the  freedmen's 

AID  society  in  the   CASE  OF  PROFESSOR  CAULKINS. 

"  It  has  been  widely  published  that  Professor  Caul- 
kins,  of  Chattanooga  University,  Tennessee,  a  school 
officially  connected  with  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  built  and  sup- 
ported for  the  most  part  by  funds  from  its  treasury,  re- 
fused to  shake  hands  with  the  Rev.  B.  H.  Johnson,  pastor 
of  one  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churclies  of  Chatta- 
nooga, and  that  he  refused  the  proffered  hand  of  Mr. 
Johnson  because  Mr.  Johnson  is  a  colored  man.     It  has 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     243 

also  been  reported  that  Professor  Caulkins,  in  conversa- 
tion with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Carter,  immediately  after  the 
alleged  insult  to  Mr.  Johnson,  used  words  which  indi- 
cated his  personal  prejudice  against  the  Negro  race. 

"In  view  of  the  wide  circulation  of  these  accusa- 
tions, the  executive  committee  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  makes  the  following  statement  of  facts : 

"Tlie  first  report  of  the  case  was  made  to  some 
members  of  the  executive  committee  about  the  22d  of 
October,  and  the  president  of  the  society.  Bishop  Wal- 
den,  did  not  hear  of  it  until  the  25th.  On  the  26th  a 
meeting  of  the  executive  committee  was  held,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  society  being  in  the  chair,  and  at  this  meet- 
ing Dr.  Bust,  the  corresponding  secretary,  was  directed 
to  ascertain  the  facts  in  the  case,  and,  if  the  disparag- 
ing rumors  concerning  Professor  Caulkins  should  prove 
to  be  true.  Bishop  Walden  was  directed  to  lay  the  mat- 
ter before  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  university,  and 
ask  for  Professor  Caulkins's  resignation.  The  vote  of 
the  committee  upon  this  resolution  was  unanimous. 
Bishop  Walden  went  immediately  to  New  York  to  attend 
the  bishops'  meeting  and  other  annual  meetings. 

"  Dr.  Rust  secured  written  statements  from  Dr.  Car- 
ter, Mr.  Johnson,  and  Professor  Caulkins.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  executive  committee,  December  1st,  held  on 
the  bishop's  return  from  the  East,  the  matter  was  called 
up,  but  no  formal  report  was  made,  it  being  the  wish  of 
the  committee  that  Bishop  Walden  should  see  the  par- 
ties on  the  ground,  and  ascertain,  so  far  as  possible,  all 
the  facts  bearing  upon  the  case.  He  presented  his  re- 
port to  the  executive  committee,  Monday,  December 
20th,  the  earliest  date  practicable  after  he  had  secured 


244  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

a  meeting  of  the  parties  iu  Chattanooga.  Pending  the 
consideration  of  the  report,  the  committee  adjourned  to 
Thursday,  December  23d. 

"The  annual  meeting  of  the  board  of  managers  of 
the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  was  held  on  the  21st  of  De- 
cember, and  this  case  was  called  up,  and  by  resolution 
was  left  to  the  executive  committee  to  take. such  action  as 
the  facts  might  require. 

"  Dr.  Carter  and  Professor  Caulkins  being  present  on 
the  23d,  each,  by  request  of  the  committee,  made  a  full 
statement.  In  view  of  these  statements  it  was  deemed 
best  to  have  personal  statements  from  other  jDarties,  and 
the  committee  requested  the  presence  of  Mr.  Johnson, 
President  Lewis,  Dr.  Manker,  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Bowman 
at  an  adjourned  meeting  held  Tuesday,  December  28th. 
These  were  all  present  at  this  meeting  except  Mr.  Bow- 
man, and  each  made  a  statement  before  the  committee. 

"The  committee  spared  neither  time  nor  patient 
labor  in  investigating  the  case,  and  after  mature  delib- 
eration, the  entire  committee  being  present,  adopted  the 
following : 

"  '  1.  That  we,  the  executive  committee  of  the  Freed- 
men's Aid  Society,  strongly  condemn  an  insult  or  dis- 
courtesy to  a  colored  person  on  account  of  color  or 
previous  condition;  that  Ave  hold  that  no  person  who 
entertains  sentiments  either  inimical  or  prejudicial  to 
the  colored  people,  as  such,  should  have  a  position  of  trust 
m  any  institution  of  our  Church ;  that  we  do  unquali- 
fiedly condemn  the  refusal  or  fj^ilure  of  Professor  Caul- 
kins  to  shake  hands  with  Rev.  B.  H.  Johnson,  and  de- 
plore the  results  of  what  Professor  Caulkins  claims  to 
have  been  carelessness  on  his  part. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     245 

"  '  2.  That  a  majority  of  this  executive  committee  is 
convinced  that  Professor  Caulkins  did  intentionally  re- 
fuse to  shake  hands  with  Rev.  B.  H.  Johnson ;  that  he 
does  entertain  sentiments  that  unfit  liim  for  a  position 
in  a  school  with  which  our  Freed  men's  Aid  Society  is 
oflUcially  connected,  and  that  he  should  be  asked  to 
resign  at  once. 

*' '  3.  That  inasmuch  as  the  power  to  dismiss  teachers 
from  the  Chattanooga  University  is  vested  by  the  char- 
ter in  its  board  of  trustees,  we,  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society,  refer  the  fore- 
going statements  and  conclusions  to  said  board  of 
trustees,  and  respectfully  request  a  speedy  decision  in 
the  matter,  and  tiiat  the  decision  be  placed  before  the 
Church  at  the  earliest  day  practicable. 

"'Attest:  J.  M.  Walden,  President. 

'"T.  H.  Pearne,  Secretary.'" 

When  the  foregoing  action  of  the  board  of  man- 
agers was  communicated  to  the  trustees,  they  refused 
to  comply. 

The  following  from  the  Western  Christian  Advo- 
cate has  the  right  ring : 

TROFESSOR  CAULKINS'S  CASE. 
"We  learn  that  the  trustees  of  the  Chattanooga 
University  decline  to  comply  with  the  request  ^f  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  as 
to  the  removal  of  Professor  Caulkins.  We  learn  this 
with  much  regret,  because  one  result  will  be  a  disturb- 
ance of  the  harmonious  relations  which  should  exist  be- 
tween the  trustees  and  the  executive  committee.  We 
do  not  see  how  the  committee  can  possibly  recede  from 


246  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

its  position.  When  the  matter  was  sent  back  by  the 
trustees  for  further  consideration,  and  some  new  facts 
were  submitted,  it  was  tlie  conviction  of  tlie  committee 
that  the  new  facts  made  the  case  against  the  professor 
stronger  than  before,  and  the  request  for  his  removal 
was  more  prompt  and  emphatic  in  the  second  instance 
than  in  the  first.  As  we  have  already  said,  we  are  fully 
satisfied  that  Professor  Caulkins  means  to  be  a  gentle- 
man; but  a  man  who  could,  under  any  possible  cir- 
cumstances, say  such  things  about  the  Negro  as  Pro- 
fessor Caulkins  certainly  has  said,  and  act  toward  a 
colored  minister  as  he  did  act  toward  Mr.  Johnson,  is 
not  a  proper  person  to  occupy  the  position  of  teacher 
in  a  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  school,  and  the  effort  of 
the  trustees  to  retain  him  can  accomplish  no  desirable  re- 
sults. The  jjrofessor  ought  to  resign,  and  thus  end  the 
controversy  over  his  case.  That  the  five  trustees  who 
voted  to  retain  him  in  the  university  are  sincere  in 
their  motives  we  do  not  for  one  moment  doubt,  but  they 
certainly  do  not  see  the  case  as  the  great  mass  of  the 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  see  it,  and 
their  position  is  clearly  untenable.  Professor  Caulkins 
should  not  be  permitted  to  remain  in  that  institution. 
If  nothing  else  can  be  done,  notice  should  at  once  be 
given  to  terminate  the  contract  between  the  Freedmen's 
Aid  Society  and  the  trustees,  and  at  the  earliest  practi- 
cable moment  a  new  administration  should  be  inaugu- 
rated. One  mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  South  is  to  teach  a  better  theory  concerning  the 
Negro  than  the  South  has  heretofore  held,  and  it  is 
wholly  incongruous  for  us  to  employ  as  teachei's  in  the 
South  men  who  hold  upon  this  particular  subject  opin- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      247 

ions  which  we  are  there  to  destroy.  However  pure  the 
motives  of  the  trustees  may  be,  and  we  have  no  suspicion 
of  them,  their  course  is  not  wise,  and  if  persisted  in  will 
lead  to  serious  consequences.  We  hope  they  will  recon- 
sider their  action  before  the  evils  are  precipitated  upon 
us  which  must  otherwise  inevitably  result. 

MIXED  SCHOOLS— lyET  US  BE  WISE. 

"It  will  be  a  very  disastrous  state  of  things  if,  while 
the  Chattanooga  University  is  under  discussion,  tlie  col- 
lections for  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  shall  be  post- 
poned. The  society  is  in  debt  now,  and  funds  must  be 
supplied  or  its  work  will  be  crippled,  and  in  the  not 
distant  future  will  have  to  be  suspended.  More  money 
should  be  given  this  year  than  in  any  previous  year. 

"No  change  in  the  administration  of  the  society  has 
been  inaugurated.  The  colored  work  and  the  white 
work  are  going  on  now  just  as  they  have  done  for  years, 
only  more  successfully  than  ever  before.  There  have 
never  been  any  colored  students  in  our  white  schools  in 
the  South,  and  the  last  General  Conference  knew  this 
fact,  and  approved  the  administration  of  the  Freed- 
men's Aid  Society.  One  of  our  contemporaries  says  that 
colored  students  can  find  a  way  into  Grant  Memorial 
University,  at  Athens,  Tennessee;  but  that  is  certainly 
a  mistake.  We  can  not  learn  that  one  colored  student 
has  ever  been  in  that  school,  nor  do  we  believe  that  one 
would  be  admitted  there.  Our  white  schools  in  the 
South  are  for  whites  exclusively,  and  have  been  so  from 
the  beginning. 

"We  do  not  now  discuss  the  main  question  at  issue, 
but  we  do  say  that,  in  our  judgment,  those   in  charge 


248  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  have  been  administering 
the  trust  committed  to  them  just  as  they  administered  it 
before  the  last  General  Conference,  and  as  they  under- 
stood the  instructions  given  them  by  that  General  Con- 
ference. The  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  has  never  excludi.'d 
colored  students  from  white  schools.  Certain  colored 
persons  who  applied  for  admittance  to  Cliattanooga  Uni- 
versity were  refused  by  the  local  authorities,  and  only  a 
few  days  ago  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  officers  of  tlie 
Freedmen's  Aid  Society,  when  a  meeting  of  the  board 
of  managers  was  at  at  once  called  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion. So  far  as  we  know,  this  is  the  first  action  of  the 
kind  in  the  history  of  the  society.  What  conclusion  the 
board  will  reach  we  do  not  know,  and  do  not  now  care 
to  conjecture,  although  our  own  views  upon  the  whole 
subject  are  entirely  clear.  We  do  not  believe  that  under 
the  action  of  the  General  Conference  of  1884  those 
students  can  be  rightfully  refused  admittance  to  the  uni- 
versity, and  whatever  the  results  may  be,  the  General 
Cimference  itself  must  bear  the  responsibility  for  them. 
We  confess  our  profound  conviction,  and  our  painful 
fear,  that  if  this  view  shall  be  adopted  and  acted  upcm, 
our  entire  educational  work  among  the  whites  of  tlie 
South  will  be  imperiled.  The  prejudice  against  the  in- 
troduction of  colored  students  to  our  white  schools  in 
the  South  is  more  violent  than  it  would  be  against  the 
appointment  of  a  colored  man  as  pastor  of  Trinity 
Church,  Chicago;  or,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible,  of 
Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn.  We  do  not  believe  that 
mixed  schools  in  the  South,  generally,  are  yet  possible, 
and  this  fact  has  influenced  the  action  of  the  General 
Conference  upon  this  whole  subject.     It  is  barely  pos- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CUURCH.      249 

sible  that  if  that  body  had  fully  appreciated  the  gravity 
of  the  situation,  the  resolution  of  May  28,  1884,  setting 
forth  the  policy  of  the  Church,  would  not  have  been 
adopted.  However  this  may  be,  to  us  the  action  of  the 
Conference  admits  of  but  one  inteipretation,  and  when 
a  student  knocks  at  the  door  of  any  one  of  our  schools, 
the  opening  of  the  door  must  not  depend  upon  the  color 
of  the  applicant.  Whether  the  action  of  the  confer- 
ence be  wise  or  unwise  is  a  very  different  question;  but 
this  is  our  interpretation  of  what  it  did. 

"For  the  preseut,  however,  we  are  anxious  that  the 
regular  collections  for  the  society  shall  be  taken,  so  that 
its  growing  and  glorious  work  may  not  be  crippled.  If 
the  collections  cease,  the  colored  work  will  be  destroyed. 
Our  wiiite  people  in  the  Soutii  can  do  something  on 
educational  lines  for  themselves,  but  our  colored  people 
can  do  little,  if  anything ;  and  when  the  people  of  the 
North  fail  to  send  in  the  money,  the  schools  for  the  col- 
ored people  must  inevitably  close.  Let  no  angry  criti- 
cism of  the  society  result  in  robbery  of  Christ's  poor. 

"We  trust  the  Church  will  see  the  case  just  as  it  is, 
and  not  rush  to  a  conclusion  which  will  endanger  our 
hitherto  prosperous  work  in  the  South.  The  board  of 
managers  of  the  society  can  be  trusted  to  do  what  is 
right  and  wise.  Let  the  collections  be  taken  as  usual, 
and  send  the  money  in  promptly,  and  wait  in  patience 
for  a  deliverance  from  the  board  of  managers.  We  do 
not  need  angry  passion  just  now,  but  coolness,  delibera- 
tion, wisdom,  and  the  fear  and  love  of  God.  Let  these 
virtues  prevail,  and  no  disaster  will  befall  us." 

The  trustees  of  Chattanooga  University  hav- 
ing refused  to  ask  Professor  Caulkins  to  resign  his 


250  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

position  in  the  institution,  the  Western  Christian 
Advocate  reported,  editorially  and  otherwise,  the  fol- 
lowing, which  we  insert  in  full,  because  the  editor 
was  present  during  all  the  deliberations  of  tlie 
body,  and  was  chairman  of  the  sub-committee 
which  prepared  the  statements  and  resolutions  which 
were  considered,  amended,  and  adopted : 

"The  action  of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Society  will  be  found  in  another  column,  and 
will  be  read  very  widely  and  with  much  care.  The 
editor  of  the  Western  was  present  during  all  the  delib- 
erations of  the  body,  and  was  chairman  of  the  sub- 
committee which  prepared  the  statements  and  resolutions 
which  were  considered,  amended,  and  adopted.  He  is, 
therefore,  in  a  position  to  know  how  the  board  reached 
its  conclusions,  and  the  spirit  of  all  the  discussions. 
The  work  was  done  prayerfully  and  cai-efully,  and  with 
profound  appreciation  of  the  principles  involved  and 
of  the  possible  results  of  the  action  taken.  The  board 
understood  that  it  was  dealing,  directly  or  indirectly, 
with  the  entire  work  of  our  Church  in  the  South  ;  for, 
as  matter  of  fact,  the  fate  of  our  Churches  in  that  part 
of  the  country  is  more  closely  related  to  the  fate  of  our 
schools  than  most  persons  think.  It  took  a  broad  view 
of  the  whole  subject,  and  after  many  hours  of  delibera- 
tion on  three  successive  days,  adopted  the  deliverance 
which  is  now  laid  before  the  Church.  What  its  state- 
ments and  resolutions  are,  the  reader  will  learn  by  per- 
sonal examination  of  them.  They  are  easily  understood. 
No  adroit  play  is  attempted  upon  the  word  *  policy,'  nor 
is  the  resolution  of  May  28,  1884,  treated  as  a  '  barren 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     251 

ideality,'  The  board  adopted  the  view  of  the  whole  ques- 
tion which  was  set  forth  editorially  in  these  columns 
some  weeks  ago.  That  the  General  Conference  intended 
to  continue  separate  schools  for  the  two  races  is  en- 
tirely clear  to  us,  and  that  it  also  intended  that  those 
schools  should  not  be  absolutely  exclusive  as  to  either 
race,  is  equally  clear.  This  is  the  view  taken  by  the 
board  of  managers,  and  seems  to  us  wholly  correct. 

"  We  believe  it  will  harmonize  with  the  thought  of 
the  Church.  We  do  not  believe  there  is  a  general  dis- 
position to  destroy,  or  even  to  cripple,  our  work  among 
the  whites  of  the  South ;  on  the  contrary,  the  remark- 
able success  of  that  work  is  a  cause  of  joy  to  the  great 
majority  of  our  people,  and  they  are  ready  to  aid  and 
extend  it.  But  there  is  a  conviction  that  the  last  Gen- 
eral Confereuce  intended  to  utter  a  practical  protest 
against  that  caste  spirit  which  has  so  long  trampled  upon 
the  Negro  race ;  and  there  is  also  a  conviction  that  the 
age  is  outgrowing  that  prejudice,  and  that  in  this  ad- 
vance toward  ideal  gospel  fraternity  the  Church  should 
lead  the  age.  The  board  shared  this  conviction,  and 
voiced  its  opinion  in  an  interpretation  of  the  action 
of  the  General  Conference  which  none  can  misunder- 
stand. What  the  effect  will  be  upon  our  work  in  the 
South  no  one  can  foretell.  It  is  po-ssible  that  our  schools 
in  that  section  may  all  become  schools  of  colored  people  ; 
for  it  is  just  possible  that  if  colored  students  shall  be 
admitted  to  what  are  now  called  white  schools,  all  the 
white  students  will  be  foolish  enough  to  leave  them.  This 
is  prophesied  and  desired  by  some  who  wish  us  evil,  and  is 
feared  by  some  who  wish  us  well,  and  some  of  our  enemies 
are  already  standing  ready  to  laugh  at  our  confusion. 


252  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

"We  hope  for  better  tilings.  We  have  no  idea  that 
large  numbers  of  colored  students  will  apply  for  admit- 
tance to  these  schools ;  for  while  they  do  not  enjoy  being 
excluded  from  them  by  law,  they  prefer  the  schools 
which  are  attended  mostly  by  their  own  people,  and 
which,  as  matter  of  fact,  are  among  the  best  in  the 
South.  We  do  not  believe  that  they  will  purposely 
embarrass  the  work  among  the  whites  by  insisting  upon 
their  rights  under  the  action  of  the  General  Conference 
as  interpreted  by  the  board  of  managers.  We  are  free 
to  say  that  we  hope  they  will  not  do  it.  Whatever  the 
result  is  to  be,  however,  the  General  Conference  took 
the  action  which  the  board  has  now  interpreted,  and 
which,  in  our  judgment,  it  could  not  consistently  inter- 
pret in  any  other  way. 

"  We  believe  the  Church  will  approve  what  the 
board  has  done,  not  only  by  words  but  by  increased 
contributions  to  the  cause.  The  society  is  heavily  in 
debt,  and  while  it  has  a  very  large  amount  of  property, 
and  is  in  no  sense  bankrupt,  it  ought  to  have  an  annual 
income  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

"The  action  of  the  board  shows  how  unjust  much 
of  the  criticism  of  the  society  has  been.  This  is  the 
first  and  only  time  in  its  history  when  it  has  been 
called  upon  to  interpret  General  Conference  action  upon 
this  subject,  and  it  speaks  promptly  and  clearly.  We 
never  had  any  doubt  as  to  what  it  would  say  when  an 
opportunity  for  utterance  should  be  given,  and  we 
prophesied  editorially  what  the  result  Avould  be.  That 
time  has  come;  the  voice  of  the  society  has  been  heard; 
and  it  is  now  in  order  for  hostile  critics  to  confess  how 
they  have  wronged  a  society  which  ran  to  the  help  of 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     253 

the  freedman  before  the  roar  of  tlie  battle  which  made 
him  free  had  died  away,  and  has  done  more  since,  with 
the  amount  of  money  at  its  command,  than  any  other 
benevolent  society  in  the  world. 

"We  trust  that  those  who  are  particularly  interested 
in  our  work  among  the  whites  of  the  South  will  not 
lose  heart.  A  better  day  is  dawning.  It  would  be  a 
poor  tribute  to  our  work  during  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century  if  the  introduction  of  a  few  colored  students 
into  our  schools  for  whites  should  break  the  institutions 
down.  Have  we  really  made  so  little  progress  that  six 
colored  "students  at  Chattanooga  would  drive  out  two 
hundred  white  students?  We  can  hardly  believe  it. 
When  three  chase  a  hundred,  the  three  must  be  very 
strong  or  the  hundred  very  weak.  We  believe  our  white 
work  will  go  on,  and  that  this  action  of  the  board  will 
strengthen  the  society  and  increase  its  success." 

ACTION  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MANAGERS 

OF    THE    FREEDMEN'S    AID    SOCIETY    OF    THE    METHODIST 

EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

"The  board  of  managers  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  the  call 
of  its  executive  committee,  convened  at  its  office  in  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  February  22,  1887,  the  following  members 
being  present:  J.  M.  Waldeu,  Amos  Shinkle,  M.  B. 
Hagaus,  R.  S.  Rust,  J.  C.  Hartzell,  T.  H.  Pearne,  Earl 
Cranstou,  W.  L.  Hypes,  D.  J.  Starr,  H.  Liebhart,  W. 
F.  Boyd,  J.  H.  Bayliss,  W.  P.  Stowe,  Joseph  Courtuey, 
I.^nac  W.  Joyce,  Bidwell  Lane,  J.  M.  Shumpert,  E.  W. 
S.  Hammond,  J.  W.  Dale,  J.  D.  Shutt,  F.  S.  Hoyt,  J. 
Kiehbiel — two  members  being  absent,    namely :   F.  C. 


254  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Holliday,  through  personal  illness,  and  Edward  Sargent, 
on  account  of  affliction  in  his  family. 

"The  following  was  submitted  for  consideration: 

EXTRACT    FROM    MINUTES   OF    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE    OF 
CHATTANOOGA  UNIVERSITY. 

"'"Whereas,  At  the  opening  of  the  Chattanooga 
University,  September  15,  1886,  certain  colored  persons 
applied  to  the  faculty  for  admission  as  students  in  the 
institution;  and 

"  'Whereas,  Certain  other  colored  persons  residing 
in  Athens,  Tennessee,  have  applied  for  admissi'on  at  the 
opening  of  the  second  term,  now  about  to  commence  ;  and 

"  '  Whereas,  It  has  been  again  and  again  definitely 
and  clearly  stated  by  the  proper  authorities  of  the 
Church,  and  from  the  beginning  has  been  well  under- 
stood by  all  concerned,  that  the  Chattanooga  University 
was  designed  for  the  education  of  white  pupils,  and  was 
not  intended  to  be  a  mixed  school ;  and 

"  '  Whereas,  It  is  well  known  that  first-class  institu- 
tions, well  equipped  and  provided  by  the  Church  espe- 
cially for  the  education  of  people  of  color,  are  within 
easy  reach  of  all  such  persons  who  really  desire  to  avail 
themselves  of  their  benefits,  so  that  they  are  in  no  proper 
sense  dependent  on  this  institution  for  education ;    and 

"'Whereas,  We  are  confident  that,  in  the  present 
state  of  society  in  the  South,  the  admission  of  col- 
ored students  to  the  Chattanooga  University  would,  on 
the  one  hand,  be  fatal  to  the  prosperity  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  defeat  the  very  object  proposed  by  the  Church 
in  the  establishment  of  tiie  school ;  and,  on  the  otherhand, 
would  not  only  be  unproductive  of  good  results  to  the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHUBCH.     255 

colored  students  so  admitted,  but  would  excite  prejudice 
and  passion,  alienate  the  races,  and  prove  especially  det- 
rimental to   the  interests  of  the  colored  people ;    and 

"'Whereas,  This  very  question  of  mixed  schools 
has,  by  the  General  Conference  itself,  been  declared  to 
be  "one  of  expediency,  which  is  to  be  left  to  the  choice 
and  administration  of  those  on  the  ground  and  more 
immediately  concerned ;"  therefore,  be  it 

"  '  Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  inexpedient  to  admit 
colored  students  to  the  university,  and  that  the  faculty 
be  instructed  to  administer  accordingly. 

"'Adopted  January  4,  1887.' 

"In  view  of  this  action,  and  after  full  consideration 
of  the  whole  subject,  the  board  of  managers  adopts  the 
following  statements  and  resolutions : 

"  1.  The  last  General  Conference  authorized  the 
Freedraen's  Aid  Society  to  aid  in  the  maintenance  and 
establishment  of  separate  schools  among  the  white  mem- 
bers of  our  Church  in  the  South.  It  did  this  by  recog- 
nizing the  separate  white  schools  then  existing  in  tlio 
South  as  entitled  to  aid  ;  by  directing  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Society  to  co-operate  in  maintaining  and  establishing  such 
schools;  by  approving  the  aid  this  society  had  already 
extended  to  these  schools ;  and  by  directing  the  pastors 
when  taking  collections  for  the  Freedraen's  Aid  Society 
to  *  state  plainly  that  the  educational  work  of  the 
society  is  among  both  white  and  colored  people.'  There 
can,  therefore,  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  intention  to 
continue  separate  schools  in  connection  with  the  Freed- 
men's Aid  Society ;  yet,  in  the  judgment  of  this  board 
of  managers,  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment of  the  last  General  Conference  to  interpret  its 


256  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

action  as  being  designed  to  forbid  the  exclusion  of  any 
student  '  from  instruction  in  any  and  every  school  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Church  because  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude ;'  and  we  hereby  de- 
clare that  no  pupil  should  be  excluded  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude,  from  in- 
struction in  the  schools  under  the  control  of  tliis  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Society  or  aided  by  its  funds,  under  the 
authority  of  the  last  General  Conference. 

"In  the  above  interpretation  of  the  action  of  the 
last  General  Conference  touching  this  general  principle 
of  equality,  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  board  that  it  was 
not  the  expectation  of  the  General  Conference  that  any 
advantage  would  be  taken  of  its  deliverance  on  this 
subject  by  persons  or  parties  interested  in  embarrassing 
the  work  of  our  Church,  or  of  this  society  ;  and,  therefore, 
we  trust  that  the  parties  directly  interested  in  its  practical 
application  will  so  act  as  to  promote  good-will  and  insure 
the  usefulness  of  all  the  schools  under  the  care  of  this 
society.  We  also  call  attention  to',  and  emphasize,  the 
following  action  of  the  last  General  Conference,  viz : 

"  'The  establishment  of  schools  for  the  benefit  of  our 
white  membership  in  the  South  we  believe  to  have  been 
a  wise  and  necessary  measure.  Their  success  has  been 
gratifying.  The  beneficial  results  have  not  been  con- 
fined to  those  immediately  interested,  but  their  liberal- 
izing eflTects  upon  public  sentiment  have  greatly  re- 
dounded to  the  advantage  of  our  colored  people.  We 
regret  that  for  so  great  and  important  a  work  so  little 
has  been  done  by  the  Church,  and  we  desire  most  em- 
phatically to  give  expression  to  our  conviction  that  the 
time  has   come    when   this  portion   of  our   educational 


TEE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      257 

work  should  be  strengthened  and  placed  upon  a  strong  and 
permanent  basis,  as   its  importance  certainly  demands.' 

"2.  Whereas,  It  appears  from  the  above  action 
of  the  Chattanooga  University  that  certain  students 
were  denied  admission  to  that  institution  for  the  sole 
reason   that  they  were  persons  of  African  descent ;  and 

"Whereas,  In  the  judgment  of  this  board  there  is 
neither  in  the  charter  of  the  Chattanooga  University, 
nor  in  the  contract  between  said  university  and  the 
Freedmen's  Aid  Society,  anything  authorizing  the  ex- 
clusion of  students  from  instruction  in  said  institution 
on  account  of  color  or  race;  and  as  the  General  Con- 
ference, on  May  28,  1884,  did,  as  its  last  utterance  on 
this  question,  declare  '  the  policy  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  to  be,  that  ...  no  student  shall  be 
excluded  from  instruction  in  any  and  every  school  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Church  because  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude  ;'  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  disapprove  the  exclusion  of  those 
students  for  the  reason  assigned ;  and  hereby  instruct 
our  executive  committee  to  use  all  proper  means  at  its 
command  to  induce  the  trustees  of  the  Chattanooga 
University  to  rescind  the  order  by  which  those  students 
were  refused  instruction  in  that  institution. 

"3.  Whereas,  The  executive  committee  of  the 
Chattanooga  University  has  declined  to  ask  for  the 
resignation  of  Professor  Wilford  Caulkins  as  a  member 
of  the  faculty  of  that  institution,  although  such  action 
has  been  twice  requested  by  the  executive  committee  of 
this  board  ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  By  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Freed- 
men's Aid  Society,  that  we  approve  the  course  of  our 

22 


258  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

executive  committee  iu  seeking  to  secure  the  resignation 
of  Professor  Cuulkius;  and,  while  carefully  and  respect- 
fully considering  the  reasons  urged  by  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Chattanooga  University  for  his  reten- 
tion, it  is  our  conviction  that  the  best  interests  of  the 
society  and  the  Church  demand  his  removal. 

"4.  Whereas,  Harmony  between  this  board  and 
the  Chattanooga  University  is  essential  to  the  effective 
working  of  the  said  university ;  therefore, 

*^  Resolved,  That  if  the  Chattanooga  University  fail 
to  secure  the  resignation  of  Professor  Wilford  Caulkins, 
to  take  effect  at  a  date  not  later  than  the  close  of  the 
present  school  term,  and  so  to  modify  its  action  as  not 
to  exclude  from  instruction  in  that  institution  students 
on  account  race  or  color;  i.  e.,  if  the  said  university 
fail  in  either  of  these  particulars,  we  hereby  instruct 
our  executive  committee  to  secure  by  agreement,  if  pos- 
sible, with  the  trustees  of  said  university,  the  immediate 
termination  of  the  contract  between  the  Chattanooga 
University  and  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society;  and,  in 
case  a  termination  of  said  contract  be  not  secured  by 
mutual  agreement,  in  either  of  the  contingencies  named 
above,  to  notify  the  trustees  of  the  Chattanooga  Uni- 
versity, within  sixty  days  from  this  24th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1887,  of  the  termination  of  the  contract  as 
provided  in  the  same. 

"Done  by  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Freedmen's 
Aid  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at 
its  office  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  this  24th  day  of 
February,  A.  D.  1887. 

"J.  M.  Walden,  President. 
*'  Attest :  T.  H.  Pearne,  Secretary." 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     259 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THEORY  AND  PRACTICE— A  GENERAIv  DISCUSSION. 

WHILE  the  board  of  managers  was  ia  session, 
as  well  as  before  and  afterward,  a  gen- 
eral discussion,  pro  and  con,  was  going  on.  We 
give  but  a  few  of  the  many  exjjressions  of  opinion 
on  the  subject;  enough,  however,  for  one  to  form 
an  intelligent  opinion  touching  the  real  intention 
of  the  Church.  If  it  should  appear  to  any  one  that 
the  actions  taken  by  the  last  General  Conference 
were  ambiguous,  not  to  say  plainly  contradictory,  not 
only  with  themselves  but  the  past  record  of  the 
Church,  it  will  occasion  no  surprise.  The  Central 
C/ii'istian  Advocate,  at  St.  Louis,  spoke  editorially, 
March  2d,  as  follows: 

THEORY  AND  PRACTICE. 
"The  decision  of  those  who  are  in  charge  of  the 
new  university  at  Chattanooga,  erected  under  the  direc- 
tion of,  and  out  of  the  funds  collected  for,  the  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Society,  that  colored  students  shall  not  be 
admitted  to  its  benefits,  has  brought  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  face  to  face  with  certain  questions 
which  only  the  next  General  Conference  can  settle. 
But  in  the  meantime  it  is  wise  to  examine  the  questions 
involved  from  every  point  of  view,  and,  if  possible, 
thoroughly  comprehend  the  situation  ;   for,  in  matters  of 


260  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

this  kind,  we  are  apt  to  form  opinions  before  we  have 
canvassed  the  whole  field,  and  to  make  accusations  that 
will  not  stand  investigation.  That  there  are  differences 
of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  intention  of  the  last  General 
Conference  in  its  legislation  on  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion, no  one  can  doubt.  There  were  those  in  that 
body  Avho  understood  that  certain  action  in  which  they 
had  a  part  established  the  rule  that  no  distinctions 
founded  on  race  or  color  should  be  made  under  any  cir- 
cumstances in  any  of  our  schools.  But  there  are  others 
who  as  certainly  understood  that  there  would  probably  be 
circumstances  where  the  success  of  our  educational  work 
in  the  South  would  depend  upon  setting  apart  some  of 
the  schools  there  exclusively  for  the  whites.  It  is  not  a 
difference  of  opinion  that  admits  any  suspicion  of  a  lack 
of  honesty  or  piety  in  either  party,  much  less  the  accu- 
sation of  trickery  or  intentional  wrong-doing.  And  it 
will  be  found,  we  think,  after  proper  consideration,  that 
these  differences  may  be  easily  explained ;  that  they  are 
simply  the  differences  of  opinion  which  always  arise  in 
the  transformation  and  developntent  of  society  between 
the  party  of  theory  and  that  of  experience  and  practice. 
"The  Methodist  Episcopal  Churcli  holds  to  the 
theory  that  God  'hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men;'  that  they  were  all  involved  in  the  fall,  and  all 
have  been  redeemed  by  Christ,  and  may  become  par- 
takers of  the  same  faith  and  eternal  inheritance.  We 
hold  that  the  social  and  civil  distinctions  which  prevail 
in  society  are  of  men,  not  of  God.  'There  is  neither 
Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is 
neither  male  nor  female,  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jesus.'     It  is  not  possible — so  at  least  it  appears  to  us — 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     261 

to  conceive  of  Christ  as  recognizing  these  distinctions 
except  to  condemn  them,  and  to  aliow  his  sympathy  for 
the  oppressed  or  degraded  party.  The  conviction  and 
faith  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  as  strong, 
and  her  practice  as  nearly  in  accord  with  her  faith,  as 
that  of  any  Protestant  Church ;  but  her  faith  and  prac- 
tice are  not,  and  never  have  been,  in  harmony  in  regard 
to  the  colored  people.  The  simple  fact  is,  that  wherever 
the  colored  people  have  become  Methodists,  and  are 
found  in  any  considerable  number,  they  have  been 
formed  into  separate  societies ;  when  a  number  of  socie- 
ties have  been  formed  they  have  been  organized  into 
a  separate  district,  aud  in  the  end  into  separate  confer- 
ences. The  line  of  procedure  has  been  the  same  in  the 
North,  where  slavery  has  not  prevailed  for  generations, 
and  the  rights  of  the  colored  people  are  fully  recognized, 
as  in  the  South  where  the  prejudice  against  them  is  the 
greatest.  So  that  there  is  not  to-day,  so  far  as  we  know,  a 
single  colored  Church,  able  to  support  a  pastor,  in  chqrge 
of  a  white  pastor.  There  is  not  a  society  of  whites,  in  any 
condition  of  poverty  or  ignorance,  served  by  a  colored 
pastor.  There  are  a  few  districts  of  colored  societies 
served  by  white  presiding  elders,  but  not  one  white  dis- 
trict by  a  colored  presiding  elder.  And  we  do  not  be- 
lieve there  is  a  society  of  whites  anywhere  in  the  Church 
that  have  asked  for  or  woujd  receive  a  colored  pastor, 
whatever  might  be  his  grade  of  talent.  They  would  not 
object  to  hear  one  of  this  description  preach,  and  they 
would  treat  him  with  consideration,  but  they  would 
hardly  ask  him  to  become  their  pastor. 

"  We  believe  this   to  be  a   fair   statement  of  the 
situation.     It  docs  not  moan  that  we  intend  to  be  unjust 


262  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

or  unchristian,  nor  that  we  harbor  secret  prejudice 
against  our  colored  brethren,  but  simply  that  the  condi- 
tion of  things  about  us  makes  it  impossible,  as  we  say, 
to  put  our  theory  in  practice.  We  are  not  hypocrites, 
nor  are  we  consciously  faint  at  heart  in  contending  for 
the  equal  rights  of  all  men ;  but  we  have  learned  that 
the  leaven  of  Christianity  has  not  yet  leaVened  society. 
We  find  our  theory  and  the  practical  reason  not  in  ac- 
cord, and  we  follow  reason.  For  we  are  not  propagat- 
ing a  theory  but  engaged  in  obtaining  actual  benefits 
for  men.  The  object  we  have  in  view  is  itself  a  step 
towards  the  overthrow  of  error  and  sin  and  prejudice. 
It  is  not  a  surrender,  but  accepting  what  we  can 
not  at  once  change  that  we  may  yet  reach  the  object 
in  view. 

"Some  one,  however,  may  say.  But  what  about  the 
schools  ?  The  school  is  not  a  necessity  in  the  same  sense 
that  the  Church  is;  and  if  people  prefer  to  remain 
ignorant  rather  than  obtain  education  under  certain 
circumstances,  let  them  take  the  responsibility.  This 
means,  we  tate  it,  that  we  shall  not  undertake  to  do 
anything  towards  the  education  of  the  whites  in  the 
South.  And  yet  it  is  by  education  alone  that  this  preju- 
dice which  we  are  asked  to  combat  is  to  be  removed. 
Those  in  charge  of  the  Chattanooga  University  have 
not,  we  think,  taken  counsel  of  their  fears  in  this  mat- 
ter, but  have  an  intelligent  conviction  of  their  duty 
under  the  circumstances.  And  yet  it  might  have  been 
worth  the  experiment  to  have  made  the  test,  and  let  the 
Church  know  exactly  the  difficulty  which  confronts 
a  company  of  men  who  have  at  heart  the  welfare 
alike   of  white  and  colored.     But  right  here   is  where 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     263 

the  difference  of  opinion  comes  in — where  theory  and 
practice  come  in  collision ;  the  one  party  is  no  more 
willing  to  yield  than  the  other.  Whether  we  can  main- 
tain a  condition  in  our  Church  schools  which  we  have 
failed  to  maintain  in  the  Church — where  prejudice  should 
have  lass  influence  than  anywhere  else — is,  to  say  the 
least,  problematical.  And  the  question  which  will  come 
before  the  next  General  Conference  is :  Shall  we  under- 
take to  establish  a  condition  of  affairs  in  the  South 
which  we  have  utterly  failed  to  establish  in  the  North 
under  more  favorable  circumstances." 

March  2d  the  following  appeared  in  the  North- 
western Christian  Advocate,  from  the  pen  of  A. 
Wheeler,  D.  D. : 

"The  refusal  of  the  Chattanooga  University  to  admit 
the  colored  students  who  made  application  for  reception 
into  its  halls  has  exposed  them  to  severe  criticism, 
not  to  say  malediction.  A  reconstruction  of  its  admin- 
istration is  loudly  called  for,  more  in  harmony  with  the 
policy  and  principles  of  the  Church.  The  suggestion 
that  the  great  wrong  done  should  at  least  be  divided 
with  another  authority  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to 
any  of  the  horrified  accusers  living  a  thousand  miles 
away  from  the  scene  of  trouble.  Is  this  as  it  ought  to 
be?     Is  it  justice?     Is  it  fair  play? 

"In  this  transaction  two  things  claim  attention, — the 
principle  underlying  it,  and  its  application.  As  to  the 
principle  :  The  General  Conference  of  1876  indorsed  the 
principle  of  separate  conferences  and  societies.  Is  the 
principle  of  separation  right  in  the  house  of  God,  and 
wrong  in  the  house  of  learning?    The  General  Confer- 


264  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

ence  of  1884  recognized  the  principle  as  appropriate  also 
to  our  schools  in  the  South.  Was  this  done  as  an  ab- 
straction, with  no  expectation  of  a  concrete  application  ? 
If  so,  it  ought  to  have  been  known.  If  the  principle 
is  wrong,  it  is  but  just  that  condemnation  fall  upon 
the  General  Conferences  enacting  it,  and  moral  cow- 
ardice to  visit  such  indignation  on  the  Chattanooga 
agents  of  the  Church  carrying  out  a  principle  ordained 
by  the  highest  authority  of  the  Church — a  principle  to 
be  carried  into  operation  under  certain  contingencies. 

"The  application  of  the  principle  is  the  other  mat- 
ter to  be  considered.  Who  was  to  apply  it?  Some- 
body in  Detroit  or  Boston,  or  the  trustees  and  faculties 
intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  institutions?  To  ask  the 
question  is  to  answer  it.  A  mistake  m  the  application 
of  the  principle  in  a  given  case  might  be  made,  but 
are  those  making  it  to  be  adjudged  worse  sinners  than 
those  upon  whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell  therefor? 
If  those  applying  a  principle  mistakenly  be  worthy  of 
death,  of  how  much  sorer  punishment  shall  they  be 
thought  worthy  who  gave  them  the  principle  to  apply? 
But  the  General  Conference  of  1884  declared  the  policy 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  be  .  .  .  that 
'no  student  shall  be  excluded  from  instruction  in 
any  and  every  school  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Church  because  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude.*  What  of  it?  Had  that  deliverance  the 
force  of  an  enactment?  Was  it  true  to  history?  Will 
any  claim  it  to  be  history?  Who  have  declared  it? 
When  and  where  was  the  declaration  made  ?  Had 
such  a  policy  been  carried  into  execution  ?  When  ? 
By  whom?     Had  it   been   at  Athens   or  Little  Rock, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH      265 

the    only  other   schools   established    for    whites    at  the 
South  ? 

"The  statement  never  ought  to  have  been  made  by 
the  committee,  nor  indorsed  by  the  General  Conference. 
The  policy  of  exclusion  had  never  been  adopted,  it  is 
true,  but  the  trend  of  the  legislation  of  the  Church 
since  1876  had  been  in  the  direction  of  separation  in 
worship  and  education,  under  certain  conditions.  To 
institute  such  legislation,  and  then  visit  unsparing  in- 
dignation on  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  apply  it,  is 
neither  just  nor  manly,  unless  the  application  has  been 
made  in  a  way  faitiiless  to  a  committed  trust.  I  am 
not  defending  the  principle  of  separation  in  conferences 
or  schools.  It  may  be  wrong.  If  it  is,  let  us  say  so 
and  abandon  it;  but  till  we  do  abandon  it,  let  us  not 
blame  those  for  whose  benefit  it  was  adopted  for  using 
it  when  the  conditions  for  its  use  are  present.  Nor  let 
us  conclude  that  one  of  the  qualifications  for  judging 
conditions  is  distance  from  the  scene  of  action,  and  that 
competency  is  in  proportion  to  remoteness.  Let  those 
of  us  who  voted  the  principle,  if  it  be  blameworthy, 
bear  our  part  of  the  blame,  and  not  saddle  it  all  off 
upon  the  Chattanooga  authorities.  Let  us  hold  them 
responsible  for  a  misuse  of  it  only.  To  legislate  a  prin- 
ciple that  was  never  to  be  used  would  be  simply  a 
mockery." 

March  9th  the  following  contribution,  which 
appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Western  Christian 
Advocate,  was  written  by  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.  D. : 

'•  There  appears  to  be  no  small  amount  of  confusion 
in  the  minds  of  not  a  few,  who  ought  to  be  perfectly 

.23 


266  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

clear,  as  to  tlie  action  of  the  late  General  Conference 
on  the  question  of  caste  in  the  Churches  and  schools  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  action  of  that 
body  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  put  the  whole  ques- 
tion beyond  the  realm  of  doubt. 

"On  May  22,  1884,  Report  No.  3  was  presented  by 
the  chairman  of  the  Freedmen's  Committee  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  and  was  adopted  with  but  little  dis- 
cussion, almost  without  opposition.  The  third  resolution 
of  that  report  was  as  follows : 

^"Resolved,  That  the  question  of  separate  or  mixed 
schools  we  consider  one  of  expediency,  which  is  to  be  left  to 
tlie  choice  and  administration  of  those  on  t1\e  ground  and 
more  immediately  concerned:  Provided,  there  shall  be  no 
interference  with  the  rights  set  forth  in  this  preamble  and 
these  resolutions.' 

"In  regard  to  mixed  schools  and  congregations  the 
preamble  said : 

"*To  the  question  of  mixed  schools  we  have  given 
our  most  serious  and  prayerful  attention.  It  is  a  sub- 
ject beset  with  peculiar  difficulties.  That  the  colored 
man  has  a  just  and  equal  right,  not  only  to  life  and 
liberty,  but  also  to  the  means  of  grace  and  facilities 
for  education,  we  not  only  admit,  but  most  positively 
affirm.  We  are  in  duty  bound  to  provide  for  and  to 
secure  to  every  class  of  our  membership,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, a  fair  and  equal  opportunity  in  Church  and  school 
accommodations.  And  in  so  far  as  this  is  done  our  duty 
IS  performed,  and  the  equal  rights  justly  demanded  of  ns 
thus  fairly  and  fully  conceded.  Mixed  congregations  and 
mixed  sdiools  may,  in  many  places,  be  most  desirable  and 
best  for  all  concerned.     In  other  cases  one  class  or  the  other, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     267 

or  both,  may  prefer  separate  congregaiions  and  separate 
scJiools.  Equal  rights  to  the  best  facilities  for  intellectual 
aud  spiritual  culture ;  equal  rights  in  the  eligibility  to 
every  posititiou  of  honor  aud  trust,  and  equal  rights  in 
the  exercise  of  a  free  and  unconstrained  choice  in  all 
social  relations,  is  a  principle  at  once  American,  Meth- 
odistic,  and  Scriptural.' 

"  Upon  a  more  thorough  examination  of  the  italicised 
parts  of  this  report  it  was  feared  by  many  that  it  would 
justify  forcible  separation  on  the  color-line  where  '  those 
on  the  ground'  saw  fit  to  adopt  that  policy.  In  the 
light  of  recent  events  that  fear  was  well  founded.  The 
Chattanooga  University  trustees  have  done  just  what  it 
was  feared  might  be  done  under  the  resolution  and  pre- 
amble above  quoted.  If  no  further  action  had  been 
t^ken  by  the  General  Conference,  that  body  would  be 
compelled  to  bear  the  responsibility  of  the  rejection  of 
colored  students  by  the  Chattanooga  authorities.  In  the 
absence  of  further  action  the  trustees  could  say  that  the 
'question  of  separate  or  mixed  schools'  is  'one  of  expe- 
diency, which  is  to  be  left  to  the  choice  and  adminis- 
tration of  those  on  the  ground.'  '  We  are  on  the  ground, 
and  we  hold  that  expediency  requires  that  colored  stu- 
dents shall  be  excluded  from  our  university,  and  we  so 
decree.' 

"But  there  was  another  General  Conference  com- 
mittee that  could  properly  consider  and  report  on  the 
question  of  caste — the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the 
Church — which  had,  according  to  the  statement  of  its 
chairman,  Governor  Pattison,  made  upon  the  floor  of 
the  General  Conference,  given  special  attention  to  this 
question,  even  before  the  report  from  the  Freedmen's 


268  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

Committee  was  adopted.  The  unsatisfactory  nature  of 
the  report  from  the  Freedmen's  Committee,  ah'eady 
adopted,  was  regarded  as  sufficient  reason  why  the  re- 
port from  the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church 
should  be  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  conference. 
That  report  was  presented  and  adopted  May  28th,  the 
last  day  of  the  session.     The  report  was  as  follows: 

"  ^Resolved,  That  this  General  Conference  declares 
the  policy  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  be, 
that  no  member  of  any  society  within  the  Church  shall 
be  excluded  from  public  worship  in  any  and  every 
edifice  of  the  denomination,  and  no  student  shall  be  ex- 
cluded from  instruction  in  any  and  every  school  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Church,  because  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude.' 

"It  was  well  known  at  the  time  that  this  latest 
action  of  the  General  Conference  was  intended  to  make 
it  impossible  under  any  circumstances,  forcibly  or  mor- 
ally, to  'exclude  colored  people  from  any  Church 
or  school  under  the  control  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.' 

"The  resolution  was  earnestly  opposed  by  a  small 
minority,  and  all  parliamentary  tactics  were  employed 
to  prevent  its  adoption, 

"Dr.  Lanahan  opposed  it  because  the  conference 
had  already  declared  that  *  color  is  no  bar  to  any  right 
or  privilege  of  office  or  membership  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,'  and  moved  to  postpone  indefinitely. 

"Rev.  C.  J.  Howes  moved  to  substitute  a  minority 
report,  as  follows : 

"' i?eso/tjeci,  That  there  is  no  call  for  any  farther 
action  upon  the  relation  of  the  races  in  our  Church.' 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     269 

"Brotlier  Howes  made  a  vigorous  speech  against 
the  report  and  in  favor  of  the  substitute,  at  the  close  of 
which  tiie  previous  question  was  ordered.  Before  the 
vote  was  taken,  Governor  Pattison,  as  chairman  of  the 
committee,  made  an  earnest  plea  for  the  rejection  of  the 
substitute  and  the  adoption  of  the  resolution.  The 
substitute  was  lost.  A.  Shinkle,  a  layman,  called  for  a 
vote  by  orders,  but  the  call  was  not  sustained.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  T.  C.  Carter  called  for  a  vote  by  orders,  but 
the  call  was  not  sustained.  The  vote  was  then  taken  ou 
indefinite  postponement,  and  lost.  A.  Shinkle  called  for 
the  yeas  aud  nays,  and  the  call  was  not  sustained. 
The  report  of  the  committee  was  then  adopted  without 
amendment,    a    small    minority  voting  against  it. 

"The  adoption  of  this  report,  as  narrated  above, 
leaves  no  room  for  a  doubt  as  to  the  position  of  the 
General  Conference  on  the  question  of  caste.  There  is  no 
conflict  between  the  two  reports.  The  report  from  the 
Freedmen's  Committee  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
the  report  from  the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church. 

"The  attempt  made  by  certain  persons  to  make  the 
impression  tliat  the  latest  deliverance  of  the  General 
Conference  was  hasty  and  not  well  considered,  is  hardly 
less  than  a  perversion  of  the  facts  in  the  case.  Being 
the  latest,  it  is  the  mature  judgment  of  that  body,  and 
was  intended  to  set  at  rest  the  question  of  caste. 

"It  is  passing  strange  that  any  attempt  should  be 
made,  particularly  by  members  of  the  late  General 
Conference,  to  justify  the  course  pursued  by  the  Chat- 
tanooga trustees.  They  have  simply  violated  both  the 
letter  aud  the  spirit  of  the  deliverance  of  the  Church 
through  its  only  legislative  body.     There  was  but  one 


270  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

thing,  therefore,  that  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  could 
do  without  joiuing  hauds  with  the  Chattauooga  trus- 
tees ;  namely,  to  coudemn  their  policy  of  rejecting  col- 
ored students ;  and  that,  thank  God,  it  has  done.  Let 
its  resolution  be  engraved  in  letters  of  gold,  and  con- 
spicuously displayed  over  the  doors  of  all  the  schools 
under  its  care.  Let  it  be  announced  boldly  by  bishops, 
editors,  college  faculties,  and  ministers,  that  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  knows  no  caste,  either  in  its 
houses  of  worship  or  schools  of  learuing. 

"  Now  that  this  vexed  question  is  settled,  so  far  as 
it  is  possible  to  settle  it  by  the  action  of  the  Freedmen's 
Aid  Society,  and  settled  in  harmony  -with  the  action 
of  the  General  Conference  and  the  teachings  of  the 
New  Testament,  let  the  support  of  the  society  be  more 
generous  than  ever  before.  There  is  no  cause  that  is 
more  worthy,  and  when  its  merits  are  fairly  stated  it  can 
not  fail  to  meet  a  generous  response." 

The  following  appeared  in  the  Western  Christian 

Advocate  of  same  date,  written  by  Isaac  Crook,  D.  D. : 

"'You  can  and  you  can't. 
You  shall  and  you  sha'n't.' 

"Allow  a  word  now  from  one  outside  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  General  Conference  membership  in  1884,  and 
of  ambitions  for  1888,  and  with  no  votes  to  be  defended. 
The  action  had  on  the  report  (No.  3)  from  the  Freed- 
men's Aid  Committee  seemed  to  outsiders  to  say,  'That 
action  is  inspired  by  the  prudence  come  from  ex- 
perience, and  through  those  "on  the  ground."'  It  is  in 
harmony  with  the  liberty  needful  in  all  similar  work 
North  and  South,  and  is  sustained  by  the  Pauline  wis- 
dom which  *  took  and  circumcised  Timothy  because  of 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     271 

the  Jews  in  those'  quarters.'  Local  prejudices  did  con- 
trol the  '  policy '  of  St.  Paul. 

"The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the 
Church  (No.  4  adopted  afterward)  looked  like  a  halt, 
and  even  a  retreat,  under  some  alarm  at  what  had  thus 
been  done  six  days  before. 

"The  first  action  said:  'The  question  of  separate  or 
mixed  schools  we  consider  one  of  expediency,  which  is 
to  be  left  to  the  choice  and  administration  of  those  on 
the  ground.'    That  said,  'You  can.' 

"Then  came,  six  days  later,  the  adoption  of  this: 
*  No  student  sJiaU  be  excluded  in  any  and  every  school 
under  supervision  of  the  Church.'  How  could  it  say 
more  clearly,  '  You  can 't'  '  exclude?'  It  is  not  now,  as 
it  was  six  days  ago,  'left  to  the  choice  of  those  on  the 
ground,'  except  as  they  choose  to  admit. 

"When  Lorenzo  Dow  would  answer  high  Calvinism, 
which  declared  for  the  freedom  of  the  human  will,  but 
that  freedom  possible  only  in  one  direction,  he  flung  out 
the  rhyme  heading  this  article : 

'  You  can  and  you  can 't, 
You  shall  and  you  sha'n't, 
You  will  and  you  won't; 
You  '11  be  damned  if  you  do. 
And  be  damned  if  you  don't.' 

"Is  not  Chattanooga  University  caught  between  the 
two  horns  of  a  parallel  case  of  decreed  liberty?  'Left 
to  the  choice  and  administration  of  those  on  the  ground,* 
says  Freedmen's  Report,  No.  3.  Those  on  the  ground 
administer  for  a  white  school  under  that  General  Con- 
ference '  can,*  when  lo !  they  are  caught  by  the  younger 


272  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

member  of  the  decrees  governing  the  case,  which  says 
^you  can't' 

"There  is  not  a  school  under  our  Church-care  in  all 
the  South  but  is  liable  to  both  horns  of  this  dilemma  of 
double  decrees.  No  school  in  the  North  is  so  ham- 
pered. 

"Let  the  next  General  Conference  take  out  the 
Calvinism  of  the  last  action  had,  and  adliere  to  that 
broad  doctrine  of  human  rights  which  allows  not  even 
the  tyranny  of  any  majority  or  minority,  though  it 
be  of  one  headstrong  person.  Let  us  have  freedom 
of  election  in  both  doctrine  and  polity,  not  to  mention 
of  delegates.  May,  the  name  of  the  beautiful  month 
when  General  Conference  meets,  would  make  a  good 
substitute  for  'shall'  and  'sha'n't'  in  all  far-reaching 
legislation  for  distant  and  future  contingencies. 

"Those  who  show  no  faith  in  posterity,  or  people  dif- 
ferently surrounded  from  themselves,  provide  for  em- 
barrassment and  often  for  revolution.  The  antecedents 
and  the  present  love  of  justice  in  the  heart  of  Method- 
ism may  be  trusted  to  see  that  every  member  of  every 
color  shall  have  right  to  the  pursuit  of  'life,  liberty,  and 
happiness,'  with  no  other  exclusions  than  a  rigiiteous 
Christiau  prudence  may,  as  exceptions  dictate,  require. 
Even  then  the  '  strong  should  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak.' " 

In  the  same  paper,  March  23,  1887,  the  follow- 
ing, contributed  by  Gershom  Lease,  appeared  : 

"That  there  should  be  a  difference  of  opinion  among 
good  men,  in  so  important  a  matter  as  our  work  in  the 
South,  is  by  no  means  strange.     That  even  a  General 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     273 

Conference  of  grave  divines  and  honored  laymen,  while 
navigating  so  dark  a  sea  without  compass  or  precedent, 
should  occasionally  run  against  breakers,  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at.  The  only  wonder  is  that,  in  twenty  years 
of  unremitting  effort,  the  Church  has  not  seriously  em- 
barrassed herself  by  her  own  action.  The  Church  has 
had  the  wisdom  and  the  grace  to  enter  this  unexplored 
field  with  her  evangelizing  agencies,  and  by  her  wisdom 
and  success  commend  herself  to  the  continued  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  this  great  work  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  a 
problem,  the  solution  of  which  is  taxing  the  best  thought 
of  the  Church,  and  exciting  somewhat  grave  apprehen- 
sions in  the  minds  of  good  men.  The  difficulty  is  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  action  of  the  last  General  Con- 
ference upon  our  educational  work  in  the  South.  It  is 
not  strange  that  there  should  be  a  difference  of  opinion  ; 
for  there  does  really  seem  to  be  a  want  of  harmony  in 
the  action  of  that  body. 

"On  the  nineteenth  day  of  the  session  of  the  confer- 
ence it  adopted  a  carefully  prepared  report,  presented  by 
the  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Work  in  the 
Church  on  our  educational  work  in  the  South.  The 
third  resolution  of  this  report  (No,  3)  says  that  '  the 
question  of  separate  or  mixed  schools  we  consider  one 
of  expediency,  which  is  to  be  left  to  the  choice  and  ad- 
ministration of  those  on  the  ground  and  more  imme- 
diately concerned.*  On  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  the  ses- 
sion the  conference  adopted  a  report  presented  by  the 
Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church,  which  declares 
the  policy  of  the  Church  to  be,  that  *  no  student  shall 
be  excluded  from  instruction  in  any  and  every  school 


274"  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

under  the  supervision  of  the  Church,  because  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude.'  These  two 
resolutions  do  not  seem  to  be  in  harmony ;  each  declares 
a  distinct  and  different  policy.  The  one  declares  the 
policy  of  the  Church  to  be,  that  '  no  student  shall  be 
excluded  from  instruction  in  any  of  our  institutions  of 
learning,'  while  the  other  just  as  distinctly  declares  that 
the  *  question  of  mixed  schools  is  one  of  expediency,  to 
be  determined  by  those  on  the  ground.'  How  it  is  pos- 
sible to  harmonize  these  two  resolutions  it  is  certainly 
difficult  to  see.  The  theory  that  the  one  provides  for 
the  admission  of  a  sprinkling  of  colored  students  into  a 
white  school  is  not  satisfactory.  This  interpretation 
still  leaves  the  question  open,  what  per  cent  of  sprink- 
ling can  be  accommodated;  which,  in  effect,  breaks 
down  the  theory.  Neither  is  it  satisfactory  to  say  that 
mixed  schools  is  the  policy  of  the  Church,  and  separate 
schools  the  exception.  Though  this  exposition  might  be 
preferable  to  the  former,  still  it  does  not  materially  affect 
the  situation  ;  for  the  exception  is  left  to  the  judgment 
of  the  parties  '  on  the  ground  and  more  immediately 
interested,'  which  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  any  of 
our  schools  may  be  exclusive,  which  is  just  what  Report 
No.  3  declares. 

"The  two  resolutions,  then,  declaring  a  separate  and 
distinct  policy,  it  becomes  a  simple  question  of  tveight 
between  them.  It  can  not  be  fairly  said  that  the  prac- 
tical policy  of  the  Church  has  been  tnixed  schools 
or  Churches;  so  that  the  resolution  of  the  Committee 
on  the  State  of  the  Church  embodies  a  principle  that 
has  only  had  a  shadow  of  application  in  the  practical 
work  of  the  Church;  and  the  reason  for  it  is  founded 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     275 

in  the  fact  that,  after  a  fair  trial,  mixed  schools  and 
Churches  have  been  found  inexpedient.  The  preamble 
of  Report  No.  3  of  the  Committee  on  Freedmen's  Aid 
declares  that  the  'establishment  of  schools  for  our  white 
membership '  '  has  greatly  redounded  to  the  benefit  of  our 
colored  people.'  The  resolution,  then,  so  far  as  it  de- 
clares for  a  uniform  policy  is  not  in  harmony  with  that 
principle  of  practical  expediency  that  we  have  found 
necessary  in  our  work  in  tlie  South. 

"Again,  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  State 
of  the  Church  seems  to  have  been  volunteered.  It  was 
not  necessarily  binding  on  that  committee  to  prepare 
and  present  a  report  on  that  subject. 

"And,  further,  the  necessity  for  such  a  report  seems 
to  have  been  questionable.  The  position  and  policy  of 
the  Church,  as  to  the  equal  rights  of  the  colored  man, 
had  been  sufficiently  declared  by  the  general  policy  and 
administration  of  the  Church  for  the  last  twenty  years. 
The  policy  of  the  Church  in  its  Discipline  and  admin- 
istration has  been,  and  still  is,  to  grant  to  the  colored 
man  all  the  rights,  privileges,  honors,  and  immunities 
of  the  white  man.  On  the  question  of  personal  rights 
the  Church  knows  no  difference.  He  is  the  peer  in 
Methodism  of  the  white  man  in  Church  membership,  in 
all  the  councils  of  the  Church,  and  as  eligible  to  any 
position  of  honor  or  trust  in  the  gift  of  the  Church  as 
the  white  man.  No  resolution  of  the  General  Conference 
of  1884  could  in  any  way  dignify  either  the  man  or  his 
equality  of  rights  in  the  Church  above  that  which  he  al- 
ready enjoyed  in  the  fundamental  organism  of  the  Church. 
There  seems  to  have  been  no  necessity  for  this  action. 
It  can  be  of  no  practical  utility  to  the  colored  man. 


276  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

"After  the  passage  of  Report  No.  3  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Freedmeu's  Aid,  it  could  do  nothing  but  in- 
vite conflict  and  embarrass  the  Church  in  its  work. 
With  all  due  respect  to  any  action  of  the  General 
Conference,  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Freedmeu's 
Aid  seems  to  carry  with  it  a  greater  weiglit  of  obliga- 
tion than  the  other.  This  committee  was  specially 
charged  by  the  General  Conference  with  the  investiga- 
tion of  this  subject.  In  fact,  this  was  the  object  of  the 
committee.  The  report  itself  shows  that  the  committee 
appreciated  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  and  thoroughly 
considered  the  extent  and  magnitude  of  the  work,  as 
well  as  the  embarrassments  because  of  race  and  color 
that  have  met  the  Church  in  the  past.  It  embodies  the 
godly  judgment  of  the  most  thorough  and  painstaking 
investigation  of  any  body  of  men  authorized  to  speak 
upon  that  subject.  This  report  is  the  deliberate  and 
specially-provided-for  judgment  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  upon  this  subject,  and  consequently  car- 
ries with  it  all  the  weight  that  the  deliberate  action  of 
the  highest  council  of  the  Church  can  give  it.  Add  to 
this  the  fact  that  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  practical 
policy  of  the  Church  founded  in  experience,  and  it 
seems  to  carry  a  weight  with  it,  a  force  of  authority, 
that  would  at  least  relieve  a  faculty  and  board  of  trus- 
tees that  acted  under  it,  of  that  severe  censure  that  the 
authorities  at  Chattanooga  have  been  subjected  to.  This 
would  seem  to  be  specially  the  case  where  an  institution 
had  been  erected  with  the  distinct  understanding  that  it 
was  for  a  particular  race.  We  can  but  regard  the  action 
at  Chattanooga  as  within  the  provision  of  authority. 
To  waive  all  question  of  superiority,  the  action  of  the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     277 

General  Conference  under  which  they  acted  is  of  equal 
authority  with  the  other.  The  other  view  of  the  case  prac- 
tically annuls  Report  No.  3,  and  leaves  it  a  dead  letter. 
"While  we  would  certainly  entertain  all  due  respect 
for  the  deliberate  judgment  of  the  *  board  of  managers 
of  the  Freedmeu's  Aid  Society,'  as  set  forth  in  their 
late  action,  yet  we  would  respectfully  submit  that  the 
intentions  of  the  board  as  therein  set  forth,  to  dissolve 
its  connection  with  the  university,  provided  the  local 
authorities  do  not  rescind  their  action,  may  be  hasty 
and  unwarranted.  The  action  proposed  is  one  of  serious 
import,  which,  if  carried  into  effect,  ought  to  have  a 
clear  and  unchallenged  justification." 

The  Central  Christian  Advocate  of  March  9, 
1887,  said : 

"A  few  weeks  ago  we  expressed  the  opinion  that 
the  Chattanooga  University  case  would  not  be  settled 
until  the  next  General  Conference.  We  thought  there 
was  ground,  untenable  indeed,  for  the  position  of  the 
trustees,  and  that  they  would  have  a  hearing  before  that 
body,  and  then  the  question  of  '  separate '  schools  would 
be  discussed  on  its  merits,  and  the  Southern  side  would 
have  the  opportunity  of  presenting  its  views.  But  the 
action  of  the  trustees  and  faculty  in  regard  to  Professor 
Caulkins  revealed  a  state  of  affairs  that  no  one  sus- 
pected, and  for  which  there  was  no  defense  from  any 
point  of  view  whatever.  So  great  a  misapprehension 
of  the  feeling  and  conviction  of  the  Church  in  regard  to 
her  colored  members  had  never  occurred  before.  The 
path  of  duty  was  so  plain  that  no  one  should  have  had 
a  moment's  doubt  about  it,  nor  should  the  university 


278  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

for  oue  moment  have  hesitated  to  follow  the  suggestion 
of  the  authorities  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society.  But 
the  university  party  could  not  so  see  it,  and  declined  to 
dismiss  the  offensive  professor.  Tiiis  placed  the  whole 
affair  in  a  new  light,  and  the  board  of  managers  of  the 
society  were  literally  compelled  to  take  the  action  set 
forth  in  their  report  which  we  printed  last  week. 

"That  they  will  have  the  support  of  the  Church 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  For  while  the  Church  may  be 
willing  to  yield  something  to  prejudice  and  custom,  and 
agree  that  some  of  its  schools  may  be  properly  classified 
as  white,  and  others  as  colored,  it  will  not  sacrifice  the 
principle  of  equality  of  rights  among  its  members.  No 
General  Conference  could  be  convened  that  would  re- 
scind the  action  of  the  last  General  Conference,  when  it 
declared  that  no  student  shall  be  excluded  from  '  instruc- 
tion in  any  and  every  school  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Church  because  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition 
of  servitude.'  We  do  not  call  in  question  the  desire  of 
the  authorities  of  the  Chattanooga  University  to  secure 
the  highest  interest  of  the  Church  and  of  the  two  races. 
They  do  not  design  to  perpetuate  caste,  but  to  bridge 
over  the  present  till  a  better  condition  shall  be  estab- 
lished ;  and  the  Church  intended  to  assist  them  in  so 
worthy  a  work.  But  they  did  not  take  into  account,  as 
they  should  have  done,  the  feeling  of  the  Church. 
They  misinterpreted  the  phrase  '  expediency,'  when  they 
attempted  to  establish  a  rule  which  excluded  all  colored 
persons  from  the  university. 

.  "We  regret  that  they  did  not  put  to  the  actual  test 
their  conviction,  that  the  admission  of  colored  students 
of  the  class  that  could  claim  entrance  to  a  school  of  its 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     279 

grade  'would  be  fatal  to  the  prosperity  of  the  institu- 
tion.' There  are  many  persons  who  do  not  believe  tliis. 
They  do  not  doubt  the  honesty  of  the  university  authori- 
ties, but  believe  that  they  have  taken  counsel  of  their 
fears.  They  believe  it  possible  to  maintaiu  a  university 
in  the  South  under  the  same  conditions  as  in  the  North. 
This  would  have  gone  far  towards  settling  the  question, 
for  some  years  at  least.  As  it  is,  the  question  has  to  be 
taken  up  again  under  less  favorable  conditions  for  its 
determination.  But  we  shall  not  fail  in  the  end.  So 
long  as  our  hearts  are  right,  blunder  as  we  may,  we  will 
make  certain  progress  in  the  right  direction ;  for  this 
question  of  justice  and  equal  rights  to  the  colored  race 
has  been  thrust  upon  us  by  God  himself,  ayd  he  will 
lead  us  on,  if  we  will  suffer  oui*selves  to  be  led,  to  a 
decision  that  will  be  approved  in  heaven." 

The  Northioe^tern  Advocate  of  March  2,  1887, 
contained  the  following  by  J.  B.  Stair : 

"  Dr.  Smart,  in  a  short  article  on  the  caste  ques- 
tion, asks  some  very  pertinent  questions  concerning  our 
Church  in  the  South,  but  does  not  answer  them  so  satis- 
factorily. The  implication,  however,  is  that  we  are 
there  because  the  Methodist  Church  already  there  is  so 
permeated  by  that  'devilish'  and  '  unfniternal  spirit' 
[of  caste]  '  worthy  to  be  accursed  of  God  and  good 
men,*  that  she  can  no  longer  do  efficient  evangelistic 
work.  It  would  seem  that  a  Church  so  afflicted  would 
not  only  be  incapacitated  for  any  good,  but  would  neces- 
sarily be  without  the  pale  of  fellowship  with  any  other 
Christian  body;  and  yet  somehow  we  continue  to  recog- 
nize  our    Southern   sister  as   one   of   us,  send  to  and 


280  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

receive  from  her  Christian  and  fraternal  greetings  on  every 
proper  occasion,  receive  her  pastors  into  our  pulpits, 
hang  by  the  thousands  upon  their  words,  profit  numer- 
ically and  spiritually  by  their  labors,  and  devote  half 
pages  of  our  great  Church  weeklies  to  an  advertisement 
of  their  sermons.  Are  we  justified  in  thus  figuratively 
taking  to  our  arms  a  Church  possessed  of  a  spirit 
'worthy  to  be  accursed  of  God' — a  Church  whose  course 
is  so  radically  incompetent  and  wrong  that  able  missions 
from  our  own  Church  are  demanded  to  counteract  it? 
If  somebody  can,  will  he  please  point  out  the  consist- 
ency in  all  this?  If  we  are  in  the  South  to  convert 
people  to  our  view  of  the  caste  question,  we  are  there 
for  a  laudable  purpose  perhaps,  but  one  doomed  to 
failure.  That  question  was  not  involved  in  Adam's 
fall,  nor  is  our  view  of  it  necessary  to  salvation.  If  the 
politicians  among  us  would  stop  a  moment  and  consider 
the  fact  that  caste  exists  elsewhere  than  in  the  South, 
and  with  reference  to  the  colored  race,  it  might  at  least 
furnish  us  with  the  occasion  to  divide  our  missionary 
forces  with  a  view  to  a  better  distribution.  Perhaps  no 
country  under  Christian  influence  is  more  painfully 
afflicted  with  this  'curse'  than  England  is,  and  yet  Dr. 
Smart  evidently  fails  to  find  a  reason  for  sending  mis- 
sionaries there.  True,  the  Negro  is  not  there  involved, 
nor  are  ante  and  post  bellum  rivalries ;  but  that  ought 
not  to  be  an  essential  circumstance.  The  fact  seems  to 
be  that  caste  exists  about  everywhere,  even  in  our  own 
dear  Church.  We  have,  and  might  again  see,  a  form 
of  it  manifested,  should  the  powers  that  be  so  far  for 
get  themselves  as  to  send  a  doctor  of  divinity  to  a  three 
hundred-dollar    appointment    in    the    backwoods ;    and 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     281 

instances  are  not  beyond  our  own  ken  in  which  good  Meth- 
odist families  persistently  forget  to  ask  the  servants  to 
eat  with  them  in  the  dining-room,  even  when  the  table 
is  not  crowded.  It  is  remarkable  how  much  colq|^iid 
climate  have  to  do  with  the  question  of  caste.  Social 
relations,  morally  clean,  are  not  a  fit  subject  for  the 
missionary  works  of  a  great  Church.  The  legitimacy 
of  our  errand  in  the  South  will  depend  much  upon 
the  question  whether  we  find  there  territory  unoccu- 
pied, or  whether  we  are  there  as  rivals  merely,  of  a 
Church  with  whom  we  have  long  been  at  political 
swords'  points.  Politicians,  Church  or  other,  should  not 
be  allowed  to  decide.  If  we  are  in  the  South,  as  are 
other  evangelical  Churches,  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
the  souls  of  men,  we  deserve  Godspeed.  But  if  the  only 
reason  we  can  give  for  being  there  is  to  eradicate  caste, 
social  prejudice  between  races,  the  foundation  for  our 
errand  will  deservedly  be  alike  unsubstantial  with  its 
completed  results." 

The  intention  in  thus  presenting  the  Chattanooga 
affair,  like  that  of  the  rest  of  this  work,  has  been 
to  sustain  the  facts:  (1)  There  has  never  been  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  ignore  its  obligations  to  the  colored  man, 
but  it  has,  in  every  conceivable  way,  aided  him  intel- 
lectually, financially,  and  spiritually.  (2.)  That  the 
Church,  as  such,  has  always  not  only  respected  his 
manhood,  but  encouraged  him,  where  circumstances 
or  previous  condition  persuaded  him  to  believe  he 
possessed  none,    to   respect   his  manhood   and   feel 

24 


282  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

himself  somebody.  (3)  That  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  as  such,  has  done  this  to  a  greater 
degree,  and  with  as  much,  if  not  more,  consist- 
ency than  miy  other  Church  in  this  country,  and  at 
greater  cost.  It  is  quite  a  different  thing  to  say  that 
she  has  always  declared  that  none  but  mixed  schools 
should  be  supported  by  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
ciety. The  simple  and  unambiguous  statement, 
"  the  question  of  separate  or  mixed  schools  is  one  of 
expediency,  which  is  to  be  left  to  those  on  the 
ground  and  more  immediately  concerned,"  forever 
excludes  any  such  idea.  If  the  mind  of  the  Churcii 
can  be  known  at  all,  it  certainly  is  best  known 
by  the  enactments  of  the  several  General  Confer- 
ences on  this  question.  From  these  we  conclude 
that  it  is  not  the  policy  of  the  Church  to  truckle  to 
caste  prejudice  in  any  form  anywhere.  It  has  de- 
clared that  as  a  Church  it  favors  "equal  rights  to 
the  best  facilities  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  cul- 
ture, equal  rights  in  the  eligibility  to  every  position 
of  honor  and  trust,  and  equal  rights  in  the  exercise 
of  a  free  and  unconstrained  choice  in  all  social 
relations,"  But  the  whole  is  greater  than  any 
part;  therefore  there  is  not,  nor  can  there  be,  any 
Church  or  school  conducted  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  into  which  any 
member  or  pupil  may  not  enter,  or  from  which  any 
proper  person  can  be  excluded  "on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude."  This  is 
the  declared  policy  of  the  Church ;  also,  the  letter 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     283 

of  the  law  on  this  question.  The  apostle  Paul, 
a  man  of  profound  learning  and  great  piety,  as  well 
as  keen  foresight — a  man  that  so  spurned  caste 
prejudice  as  to  withstand  his  brother  Peter  to  his 
face  concerning  caste — says:  "All  things  are  lawful 
unto  rae,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient.  The 
letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit  quickeneth."  It  is  true 
of  the  colored  man  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  that  "  aW  things  are  lawful"  unto  him  that 
are  lawful  unto  any  other  man  within  the  Church. 
It  is  equally  true  for  the  colored  man  that  "all 
things  are  not  expedient"  for  him  any  more  than 
they  are  for  white  men  within  the  Church. 

We  do  not  believe,  nor  do  we  wish  to  believe, 
that  our  Church  intended,  by  anything  done  in  the 
General  Conference  of  1884,  or  desired  at  that  time 
to  annul  any  of  its  hitherto  impartial  acts ;  to  give 
any  particular  class  of  its  members  any  indulgence 
in  wrong-doing ;  to  yield  to  any  kind  of  race  or 
class  prejudice;  that  it  attempted  or  desired  to 
elevate  any  class  of  its  members  above  another; 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  that,  while  it  slept,  an  enemy 
sowed  "tares"  in  the  field.  We  think  no  one  be- 
lieves that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Church  to 
dishearten  or  disband  or  leave  to  themselves  the 
schools  among  our  white  membership-in  the  South, 
organized  and  conducted,  as  well  as  supported  in 
part,  by  conferences  of  our  Church,  in  the  which 
there  are  no  colored  members.  The  Church  must 
have  seen  and  felt  that  it  is  an  utter  impossibility  for 


284  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

any  Church,  indeed  for  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, to  mix  promiscuously,  perforce,  the  schools 
in  the  South ;  that  if  the  two  races  there  are  to  be 
educated  by  our  Church,  in  some  sort  they  must 
be  allowed  a  "  free  and  unconstrained  choice  in  all 
social  matters."  Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day.  Dis- 
eases that  have  become  chronic,  and  remain  within  a 
system  for  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  years,  can  not 
be  eradicated  in  a  month,  even  though  an  entire 
college  of  physicians  attempt  it.  When  the  Church 
requested  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  "to  give  such 
aid  to  the  above-named  schools  during  the  next 
quadrennium  as  can  be  done  without  embarrass- 
n^ent  to  the  schools  among  the  freedmen,"  it  recog- 
nized not  only  the  existence  of  exclusively  Avhite 
schools,  but  provided  for  their  "perpetuation.  The 
situation  of  affairs  is  peculiar  indeed.  The  above 
action  was  not  intended  (though  we  candidly  be- 
lieve that  those  who  claimed  the  opposite  had  a 
right  to,  and  did  think  so)  to  recognize  the  right 
to  exclude  any  pupil  on  account  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition,  on  the  plea  of  exercising  their 
"  free  and  unconstrained  choice."  That  General 
Conference,  however,  did  intend  to  allow  the  two  races 
in  the  South  to  have  the  privilege  of  separate  schools, 
if  they  desired  them,  as  it  had  not  interposed  objec- 
tion to  separate  annual  conferences.  As  proof  of 
this,  the  General  Conference  put  the  entire  educa- 
tional work  of  the  Church  in  the  South  under  the 
direct  management  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      285 

The  wisdom  of  this,  to  our  mind,  does  not  ap- 
pear on  the  surface ;  for,  if  the  Church  should  at 
any  time  in  the  future  call  a  colored  man  to  the 
office  of  corresponding  or  assistant  corresponding 
secretary  in  that  society,  Banquo's  ghost  will  rise 
again.  Again,  it  was  made,  and  is  now,  the  duty 
of  each  pastor,  when  asking  for  collections  or  pre- 
senting the  claims  of  the  society,  to  state  plainly 
that  "the  funds  collected  are  to  be  used  for  both 
races,  and  Avhere  contributors  express  the  desire, 
they  shall  be  allowed  to  say  where  their  funds  shall 
go."  Here,  again,  we  come  face  to  face  with  a 
knotty  problem  as  to  the  wisest  method  evenly  to 
balance  those  funds.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the 
prejudiced  class  in  each  race  will  turn  all  funds 
into  the  channel  into  which  his  prejudices  run. 
Now,  to  keep  even  financially,  the  two  races  within 
the  Church  in  the  South  must  do  one  of  two  things, 
viz. :  Either  drop  the  question  of  races,  and  let  the 
funds  collected  be  proportionately  appropriated,  or 
keep  up  the  race  question,  and  thus  keep  their 
funds  separate.  Which  will  be  done?  Does  it 
require  the  wisdom  of  a  philosopher  to  guess  ? 
Neither  can,  under  the  present  regime,  without  finan- 
cial loss,  afford  to  be  less  prejudiced  than  the  other ; 
for  the  reason  that  the  funds  raised  by  the  un- 
prejudiced class  will  be  equally  divided,  and  it  will 
get  only  its  part  of  lis  collection,  while  the  prejudiced 
class  will  not  only  receive  its  oton  collections  but  an 
equal  proportion  of  the   unprejudiced  classes  funds. 


286  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

These  complications  are  but  the  legitimate  out- 
growth of  the  animated  discussions  in  the  General 
Conference  of  1884  touching  the  race  question. 
We  do  not  believe  the  Church  intends  to  lessen  its 
interest,  lag  in  its  zeal,  or  retard  the  progress  and 
prosperity,  or  circumscribe  the  usefulness  of  onr 
schools  where  only  colored  pupils  have  chosen  to 
matriculate,  or  to  allow  the  children  of  our  white 
membership  in  the  South  to  grow  up  in  ignorance 
and  superstition  while  it  is  able  materially  to  suc- 
cor both  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  way. 
Is  this  view  not  reasonable,  equitable,  and  best? 
Is  it  not  a  reflection  upon  Methodism  to  view  it  oth- 
erwise, in  the  light  of  the  past  history  of  the  Church 
on  the  race  question?  While  we  say  "in  the  same 
way,"  we  do  not  intend  to  say  in  the  same  school- 
building  or  recitation-room.  To-day  it  certainly 
appears  utterly  impossible  to  mix  promiscuously  our 
Church  schools  in  the  South  after  having  founded 
one  class  of  them  upon  an  entirely  different  basis. 
It  might  be  done  in  the  North.  Might  it  not? 
We  can  not,  however,  argue  along  the  same  lines 
for  Church  schools  of  any  denomination  for  any 
particular  class  of  students  in  the  South  that  we  can 
for  those  in  the  North.  The  tw^o  cases  are  as  dis- 
similar ecclesiastically  as  the  two  sections  of  country 
are  politically. 

The  training  has  been  diifereut.  In  the  first 
place,  the  relations  of  the  two  races  in  the  two  sec- 
tions have  always  been,  and  are  to-day,  different; 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      287 

the  training  of  the  whites  in  both  these  sections 
has  been  (liferent — a  different  class  of  text-books, 
as  well  as  a  different  class  of  teachers,  who  were 
educated  differently ;  the  changed  relations  of  the 
two  races  in  late  years  from  master  and  servant  to 
citizen  and  freeman,  and  the  modus  operandi  of  the 
other  Churches  which  are  engaged  in  the  same 
work  in  the  South.  What  Church,  engaged  in  the 
education  of  the  colored  mau  in  the  South,  does  not 
maintain  separate  schools  for  the  colored  and  white? 
Not  because  they  favor  caste,  nor  because  they 
think  it  would  not  be  better,  if  possible,  to  educate 
them  together,  but  they  are  doing  the  best  they  can 
under  the  circumstances.  There  may  be  beautiful 
exceptions,  but  they  are  exceptions  few  and  far  be- 
tween. I  am  sorry  it  is  true;  but  'tis  trite.  The 
promiscuous  mixing  of  our  Church  schools  in  the 
South,  if  practicable,  would  now  be  inconsistent  in 
the  face  of  our  separate  conferences.  There  are 
two  influences  in  the  South  to-day  that  are  coeval 
with  it — and  we  came  near  saying  co-eternal — that 
are  as  despicable  as  invincible ;  the  one  is  the 
raisasma  of  the  swamps,  and  the  other  is  caste  preju- 
dice. Neither  the  wisdom  nor  skill  of  physicians 
has  been  able  to  overcome  the  one,  nor  the  armies 
of  Caesar  nor  of  Christ  have  been  able  to  eradicate 
the  other.  Death — the  common  leveler — has  thus 
far  been  the  only  sure  remedy.  But  why  frown  at 
this  when  you  remember  that  the  latter  of  these 
evils  finds  congenial  soil,  if  not  some  cultivation,  in 


288  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

some  Northern  latitudes?  If  up  North  it  is  "the 
arrow  that  flieth  by  uight,"  we  should  do  the  sur- 
prised to  find  it  "the  pestilence  that  walketh  at 
noonday"  in  the  South.  While  all  this,  and  more, 
is  true  concerning  caste,  it  does  not,  for  a  moment, 
lessen  the  crime  in  the  South  because  it  crops  out 
now  and  then  in  the  North. 

When  we  contemplate  caste  in  all  its  blackest 
and  most  disgusting  phases,  we  grow  sick  at  heart, 
and  feel  as  if  we  would  like  to  snatch  it  out, 
top,  root,  and  all ;  but  then  we  remember  it  may 
be  that  in  doing  so  we  might  draw  up  a  beard 
of  wheat.  We  believe,  however,  that  as  our  mem- 
bership in  the  South,  of  both  races,  get  more  and 
more  under  the  light  of  the  cross,  and  farther  away 
from  "slavery  days,"  they  come  nearer  together; 
the  more  harmony  that  exists  between  the  two  in 
their  efforts  to  educate  themselves  and  elevate  those 
about  them,  and  with  whom  they  have  influence,  the 
more  potent  factors  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  they  become.  No  sane  colored  man  within  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  believes  that  it  would 
benefit  his  race  if  the  Church  were  to  give  up  all 
its  work  in  the  South  among  the  whites.  Nor  is  it 
just  fair  to  believe  that  the  colored  man  is  in  and 
remains  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for 
her  "loaves  and  fishes."  It  also  appears  that  we  as 
colored  men  in  the  Church  must  be  on  the  alert 
lest  we  be  pushed  up  to  the  point  of  antagonizing 
all  our  Church  work  in  the  South,  save  that  among 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CIIURCH.     289 

and  for  ourselves.  Following  the  action  of  the  board 
of  managers  of  the  Freed  men's  Aid  Society  the  Lex- 
ington Annual  Conference  unanimously  indorsed  the 
following  action,  and  requested  its  publication  in 
the  Church  papers,  showing  one  phase  of  this 
question,  viz. : 

"The  results  attained  by  the  Freedmen's  Aid  So- 
ciety since  its  orgauization  are  marvelous,  viewed  from 
every  point.  The  work  of  this  society  in  the  country, 
Christianizing,  elevating,  and  educating  the  people,  can 
not  be  expressed  in  figures  or  told  in  words.  Wherever 
its  schools  have  been  established  the  condition  of  the 
people  has  been  bettered  and  public  sentiment  liberal- 
ized. Too  much  in  the  way  of  praise  and  thankfulness 
can  not  be  said  of  this  benevolent  organization  of  our 
Church  and  its  officers,  and  we  earnestly  commend  its 
objects  and  work  to  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  our 
ministers  and  people,  satisfied  that  the  more  thoroughly 
the  operations  of  the  society  are  understood,  the  more 
hearty  the  support  it  will  receive. 

"As  to  the  Chattanooga  troubles,  and  other  matters 
of  the  same  nature,  we  beg  to  say : 

"We  do  not  believe  it  is  right  to  yield  the  time- 
honored  opinions  and  views  of  the  Church  as  to  the 
equality,  brotherhood,  and  perfect  freedom  of  man,  nor 
that  a  line  of  action  should  be  pursued  by  the  society  or 
Church  to  secure  the  favor  or  countenance  of  those 
whose  life-teachings  are  inimical  to  the  position  of  our 
Church,  and  who  really  have  no  objection  whatever  to 
the  Negro,  so  that  his  relation  to  them  is  a  servile  one. 

"  We  desire  and  pray  for  the  success  of  all  our 
25 


290  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

schools  in  the  South  that  are  under  the  fostering  care 
of  the  Freedmeu's  Aid  Society,  but  not  at  the  loss  of 
the  manhood  and  self-respect  of  our  race.  Having 
been  long  satisfied  that  this  question  would  come  up 
for  solution  and  settlement,  and  now  that  it  is  before 
the  Church,  we  are  heartily  in  favor  of  the  Church  go- 
ing steadily  and  faithfully  forward  in  the  path  pointed 
out  for  it  by  the  Master,  regardless  of  prejudice,  local  or 
otherwise.  Compromise  will  only  delay  tlie  day  of 
settlement,  and  gain  not  a  single  point  for  God  or 
humanity. 

"Objections  are  made  to  the  mixing  of  white  and 
Negro  pupils  in  the  same  Church  schools,  and  it  is  said 
that  there  are  as  good  schools  for  Negroes  as  the  society 
provides  for  whites.  Various  other  reasons  are  given 
favoring  this  view  of  the  question.  For  us  to  admit 
that  these  objections  to  the  children  of  Negroes  attend- 
ing the  Church  schools  with  whites  are  of  sufficient 
force  to  lead  us  to  be  governed  by  them,  is  to  admit 
our  own  inferiority,  and  the  necessity  of  such  a  separa- 
tion from  our  white  brethren  as  to  end  in  the  putting 
out  of  the  Church  of  every  Negro  member  in  it.  If  we 
admit  discrimination  as  being  proper  here,  we  ask,  where 
will  it  end?  Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  of  others 
upon  the  subject,  as  to  its  expedienc}",  etc.,  we  can  have 
but  one  opinion,  and  that  is,  that  we  are  members  cf 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  yield  to  none  in  devo- 
tion and  loyalty  to  that  Church,  and  can  not  admit  that 
it  is  injudicious  or  impolitic  to  send  our  sons  and 
daughters  to  any  of  the  schools  of  the  Church. 

"  Christianity  is  colorless,  and  Christianity  demands 
of  the  Church  that  it  shall  not  recognize  the  exclusion 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     291 

of  any  of  its  members  from  any  of  its  communities  or 
schools  by  reason  of  rank  in  society  or  of  race  charac- 
teristics, especially  when  this  exclusion  carries  with  it  a 
mark  of  degradation.  The  General  Conference  has 
given  this  principle  expression. 

"  We  do  not  believe  it  well  for  this  conference  to  re- 
main silent  upon  this  subject,  when  its  silence  may  be 
construed  into  an  indorsement  of  the  unholy  sentiment 
that  it  is  proper  to  bow  before  this  baseless  prejudice, 
which  is  a  relic  of  slavery.  We  believe  this  question 
will  be  settled,  as  all  other  questions  have  been  settled 
which  tended  to  elevate  the  Negro,  and  we  believe  the 
Church  will  firmly  adhere  to  Christian  principles,  and 
lay  aside  everything  that  has  the  appearance  of  mere 
policy." 


292  THE  COLORED  MAN. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

WHAT  \VII.L  THE  HARVEST  BE? 

AFTER  the  examination  we  have  made,  and 
trying  to  scan  the  future,  we  see  what  has 
been  gained  by  the  colored  members  who  remained 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  They  have 
been  admitted  to  full  membership,  to  communion  at 
her  altars,  official  relation  as  laymen,  given  work 
in  the  pastorate,  presiding  elderate,  and  given  to 
understand  that  "color  is  no  bar  to  an  election  to 
the  episcopacy." 

"  But  these  attained,  we  tremble  to  survey 
The  growing  labors  of  the  lengthened  way  ; 
The  increasing  prospect  tires  our  wandering  eyes; 
Hills  peep  o  'er  hills,  and  Alps  on  Alps  arise." 

Will  a  time  ever  come  in  the  history  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  when  she  will  tire  of 
the  race  question,  and  abandon  forever  her  work 
among  and  for  the  colored  man  ?  It  is  hardly  con- 
ceivable that  this  will  ever  occur.  The  discussion  of 
the  race  question  becomes  beautifully  less  at  each 
General  Conference.  It  is  true  that  new  phases  de- 
velop now  and  then,  and  there  follows  a  clash  at 
arms;  but  it  never,  nowadays,  amounts  to  more  than 
a  passage  at  arms,  for  the  reason  that  the  average 
agitator  receives  but  comparatively  little  encourage- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      293 

ment  from  those  Churches  in  this  country  which 
have  turned  their  backs  upon  the  colored  man. 
They  tremblingly  hope  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  wiU  make  some  awkward  step  that  will 
eventually  drive  the  colored  man  out ;  but  tlioy 
iiave  seen  her  stand  by  him  in  the  hottest  contests 
unflinchingly,  and  in  the  face  of  a  gainsaying  pre- 
judice that  is  as  old  as  the  venerated  Constitution 
and  as  deep  rooted  as  sin,  and  they  fear  to  say  yea 
or  nay  touching  what  it  will  or  will  not  do.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  can  never  forsake  the 
colored  man,  and  be  consistent.  It  declared  in 
1816,  1844,  1861,  and  1872,  by  its  actions,  that  the 
duty  of  the  Christian  Church  was  to  stand  by  the 
colored  man,  by  making  him  feel  at  home  within  it 
as  much  as  possible.  Now  to  go  back,  would  be  to 
say  that  the  Church  South  in  1844  was  right  in  de- 
fending slavery,  and  right  in  ridding  itself  of  the  col- 
ored man  in  1870,  and  that  that  which  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  did  at  those  periods  was 
wrong.     This  it  can  never  do,  and  be  consistent. 

One  other  question  at  this  juncture  arises.  It  is 
one  fraught  with  much  interest,  as  it  is  one  that  would 
involve  the  entire  eight  millions  of  colored  j^eople  in 
this  country,  that  would  naturally  widen  the  chasm 
between  the  white  and  colored  races  in  this  country, 
and  would  sustain  the  same  relation  to  a  war  of  races 
in  this  country  that  the  separation  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  sustained  in  1844 
to  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.     Tt  is,  Will  the  colored 


294  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

members  within  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
eventually  be  separated  from  it?  If  the  existiug 
relations  between  the  Church  and  her  colored  mem- 
bers remain  as  they  are  now,  No.  There  could  be  no 
reason  for  a  separation,  since  "there  is  no  word 
white"  known  within  the  letter  of  the  law  of  the 
Church  to  indorse  invidious  distinctions  "on  ac- 
count of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servi- 
tude ;"  there  are  no  privileges  accorded  to  any  man 
of  one  race  in  the  Church,  that  another  of  any  other 
race  within  the  Church  is  not  entitled  to  by  law. 
There  is  no  church-building  with  the  name  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  inscribed  upon  it,  into 
which  any  person  "  having  a  desire  to  flee  the  wrath 
to  come"  may  not  go  as  a  worshiper,  or  become 
a  member.  This  is  also  true  of  any  university, 
college,  or  school  under  the  auspices  of  the  Chiirch. 
There  is  no  annual  conference  of  the  Church  to 
which  the  colored  man  has  not  a  perfect  right  to 
belong;  no  position  within  the  gift  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  from  janitor  to  bishop,  to 
which  any  member,  white  or  colored,  may  not 
aspire,  be  elected  or  appointed  to,  and  discharge 
the  functions  pertaining  thereto,  without  hindrance. 
In  a  word,  the  white  and  colored  membership 
within  the  Church  is,  according  to  the  enactments 
of  the  General  Conference,  equal  in  all  that  pertains 
to  Church  membership  and  privileges.  Hence 
there  is  now  no  cause  for  the  colored  membership 
seeking  separation   from   the  Clnirch.     "We  know 


THE  METUODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      295 

not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth ;"  but,  judging  the 
future  by  the  past,  there  will  never  come  a  time 
when  it  will  be  ahsolutely  necessary  for  the  Church 
to  put  away  its  colored  membership,  nor  an  absolute 
necessity  for  the  colored  membership  to  withdraw 
from  the  Church.  The  question  of  the  inferiority 
of  the  colored  man  within  the  Church  to  the 
average  white  member  within  tlie  Church,  is  fast 
disappearing,  whether  we  speak  of  this  in  reference  to 
General  or  annual  conferences.  The  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  is  turning  out  enough  young  colored 
men  from  her  universities,  colleges,  aud  schools,  from 
Boston  to  Austin,  Texas,  each  year,  to  form  an 
annual  conference.  The  graduates  from  her  schools 
are  everywhere  joining  the  Church  and  confer- 
ences, and,  to  a  certain  extent,  coping  with  those 
whose  chances  have  been  more  favorable.  No 
absolute  necessity  for  separation  exists,  and,  for  that 
matter,  may  never  exist.  May  it  not  be  found  more 
profitable,  after  a  short  time,  for  all  the  colored 
Methodists  in  this  country  to  unite  and  form  one 
grand  united  body  of  colored  Methodists  f  This 
question  has  been  urged  by  many  diiferent  parties, 
with  as  many  different  motives  at  the  bottom.  Let 
us  notice  a  few.  In  "Our  Brother  in  Black"  (by 
Dr.  A.  G.  Haygood,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,)  at  page  226,  we  find  the  following 
touching  the  point  at  issue : 

"The  most  remarkable  tendency  that  has  so  far 
shown   itself  in  the    development   of  their  eccle- 


296  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

siastical  life  is  the  strong  and,  as  I  think,  resistless 
disposition  in  those  of  like  faith  to  come  together 
in  their  religious  organizations.  The  centripetal 
is  stronger  than  the  centrifugal  force.  We  have 
already  a  number  of  African  Churches.  Indeed, 
the  great  majority  of  them  belong  to  Churches  not 
only  of  their  own  '  faith  and  order,'  but  of  their 
own  '  race  and  color.'  .  .  .  This  disposition  has 
become  very  pronounced,  and  has  expressed  itself 
on  a  very  large  scale  since  they  were  set  free." 

At  page  236  the  good  Doctor  reaches  his  point 
when  he  says: 

"If  every  colored  Methodist  in  the  United 
States  were  to-day  in  one  organization,  this  would 
not  change  the  grounds  or  nature  of  our  obliga- 
tions to  them  in  any  respect,  so  far  as  fraternal 
love,  fraternal  aid,  and  co-operation  are  concerned. 
It  Avould  then,  as  now,  be  our  duty  to  help  them 
in  all  possible  ways;  and  considering  their  his- 
tory in  this  country,  and  the  providential  indica- 
tions of  their  relation  to  the  salvation  of  Africa, 
just  as  much  our  duty  then  as  now.  If  there  were 
not  one  Negro  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society  would  be  as  much 
needed  as  it  is  now.  'The  colored  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  America '  that  was 'set  up' — 
I  hope  not  'set  off' — needs  the  help  of  its  mother, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  every  whit 
as  much  as  if  they  were  still  with  us.  Nay,  all  the 
more,  because  they  are  not  with  us.     And  we  ought, 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     297 

before  God,  to  help  them."  We  simply  add,  it  is 
about  time. 

lu  a  book  written  by  a  layman  of  our  Church, 
Joliu  A.  Wright,  of  Philadelphia,  with  the  title, 
"  People  and  Preachers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,"  at  pages  262-6,  touching  the  question  of 
separation,  he  says : 

"  A  conclusive  argument  in  favor  of  separation 
would  be  made  if  it  could  be  satisfactorily  proven 
that  the  connection  as  it  now  exists  is  injurious  and 
demoralizing  to  both  parties ;  if  it  could  be  shown 
that  their  presence  is  a  danger,  and  has  a  corrupt- 
ing influence  on  the  main  body  of  the  Church  ;  and 
that  such  separation  could  be  made  without  injury 
to  the  colored  man.  There  has  been  an  unwilling- 
ness, a  hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  Church  to  dis- 
cuss this  question,  but  the  undoubted  use  that  was 
made  of  the  colored  votes  in  the  last  General  Confer- 
ence (1884)  to  secure  places  was  so  patent  to  every 
careful  observer  that  it  can  not  be  kept  down. 
The  ease  with  which  the  influence  and  votes  of  these 
innocent  and  generally  very  ignorant  representatives 
were  secured  by  those  nearest  to  them,  shows  how 
great  a  danger  there  would  be  in  the  abuse  of  the 
confidence  placed  by  them  in  their  avowed  friends. 

"There  are  important  movements  among  the 
colored  people  that  should  be  noted.  All  will  re- 
member the  enthusiastic  patriotism,  civil  and  relig- 
ious, which  was  to  abolish  all  color-lines  and  all 
laws  that  recognized  black  and  white,  or  their  inter- 


298  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

mediate  shades.  Yet  a  law  of  nature,  of  race,  and 
of  common  sense  is  asserting  itself  among  the  col- 
ored people,  in  that  they  want  to  be  separated  from 
such  close  connection  with  the  white  man.  They 
feel  that  there  is  an  incongruity,  an  unfitness,  a 
something  that  causes  them  to  desire  to  be  free 
from  his  presence  and  government.  They  have  but 
little  respect  for  the  whites  who  remain  among  them. 
It  is  a  growing  belief  among  the  more  intelligent  col- 
ored people  that  their  religious  growth  would  be 
increased  by  their  independence  of  the  white  Church. 
So  strong  is  this  feeling  in  certain  places,  that  a  se- 
cession from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
the  formation  of  independent  Methodist  Churches, 
is  seriously  discussed.  In  obedience  to  this  grow- 
ing sentiment,  the  General  Conference,  in  1884, 
recognized  the  policy  of  basing  membership  of  an- 
nual conferences  on  a  color-line.  An  argument  in 
favor  of  caution  in  treating  this  question  may  be 
drawn  from  the  relation  of  the  colored  people  to 
the  interests  of  the  country.  The  colored  vote  in 
the  United  States  is  accepted  as  a  source  of  danger 
in  the  future  to  this  country.  The  present  colored 
vote,  as  it  has  or  has  not  had  the  privilege  of  free 
expression,  has  determined  who  should  be  President 
of  the  United  States.  ...  It  may  or  may  not 
be  an  idle  fear,  but  wise  men  are  looking  at  the  ques- 
tion in  sober  earnestness.  .  .  .  The  Church, 
then,  should  be  carefully  guarded  against  danger 
arising  from  the  presence  of  so  large  a  colored  mem- 


TUE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     299 

bership  through  the  use  of  its  power  in  the  General 
Conference.  The  idea  of  separation  for  better  work 
is  not  new  among  us.  We  have  the  German  and 
colored  conferences,  and  would  have  Scandinavian 
if  there  were  enough  Scandinavians.  There  is  a 
law  of  association  that  is  the  best  regulator  of  such 
questions.  That  a  separation  into  conferences  on 
the  color-line  will  become  general  is  inevitable. 
The  questions  will  come  up  before  the  General 
Conference  to  decide,  whether  the  colored  ministers 
can  be  so  educated  as  to  continue  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  without  any  serious  danger 
to  its  interests;  if  not,  the  lesser  must  suffer,  if  suf- 
fering it  would  be,  for  the  sake  of  the  greater ;  or 
whether,  when  they  are  prepared,  they  will  not  do 
more  good  by  being  transferred  to  some  branch  of 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

"There  are  the  African,  the  Zion,  and  the  Col- 
ored Methodist  Episcopal  Churches,  which  last  was 
wisely  set  apart  by  the  Southern  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  at  the  end  of  the  war.  They  are  all 
strong,  aggressive,  and  independent  Churches.  If 
the  members  of  these  Churches  could  be  united 
with  the  colored  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  they  would  make  a  membership  of 
nearly  one  million  of  people.  What  an  opportu- 
nity for  usefulness  to  their  race  would  be  thus 
placed  before  them !  It  must  be  admitted  that  their 
continued  connection  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  does  not  tend  to  promote  their  dependence 


300  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

upon  themselves.  Goverumeut  aid  makes  a  rest- 
less pauper  class ;  Church  support  has  the  same 
tendency.  That  the  two  races  do  not  work  well  to- 
gether, or  rather  that  the  colored  Churches  do 
not  prosper  when  intimately  connected  with  white 
Churches,  is  pretty  well  exemplified  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  where  the  only  two  colored  Churches, 
living  side  by  side  with  the  large  white  Church 
membership  of  that  city,  had  so  dwindled  in  num- 
bers and  financial  ability  in  1884  that  the  Church 
Extension  Society  had,  practically,  to  purchase  two 
churches  for  their  use,  so  that  the  colored  brethren 
from  the  South  might  have  a  Church  home  when 
they  came  to  the  General  Conference.  During  the 
same  time  the  African  and  the  Zion  Methodist 
Episcopal  Churches  have  been  very  successful  in 
that  city,  have  done  much  good,  have  able  bishops, 
leaders,  and  a  respectable  membership.  On  the  one 
side  there  was  dependency,  and  on  the  other  in- 
dependency. It  is  risking  but  little  to  assert  that 
the  number,  character,  and  self  reliance  of  the 
members  of  the  colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  are  far  greater  and  better  than  they  would 
have  been  if  their  connection  had  continued  with 
the  old  Church. 

"  A  further  thought  deserves  consideration  at 
this  point.  If  the  colored  members  are  to  be  con- 
tinued in  the  Church,  or  as  long  as  such  connec- 
tion may  last,  would  it  not  be  to  the  interests  of 
all  parties    to  dissolve  the   annual  conferences  in 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     301 

which  they  are  in  a  large  majority,  and  form  them 
into  mission  conferences,  as  they  were  prior  to  the 
General  Conference  of  1868,  without  a  voting  rep- 
resentation in  the  General  Conference?  By  doing 
this  the  Church  would  be  saved  from  the  low  aver- 
age grade  of  intelligence  of  the  General  Conference 
of  1884,  caused  by  the  presence  of  nearly  forty  of 
such  representatives,  and  from  the  corrupting  in- 
fluences that  were  so  palpable.  The  colored  people 
would  then  understand  that  their  connection  was 
not  permanent,  but  was  in  the  line  of  educating 
them  to  take  care  of  themselves.  'In  the  meantime 
the  Church  could  continue  its  good  work  in  giving 
them  the  advantages  of  education,  training  in 
trades,  and  to  the  most  promising  a  fitting  educa- 
tion for  the  ministry  and  learned  professions.  The 
suggestions  made  hereinbefore  as  to  the  proper  basis 
of  representation  in  the  General  Conference,  con- 
nected with  that  of  the  last  paragraph,  would  re- 
duce the  number  of  delegates  to  the  General  Con- 
ference from  the  colored  conferences,  and  thereby 
lessen  the  danger.  It  is  important  that  this  or 
some  other  protective  plan  should  be  adopted  before 
the  separation  that  is  inevitable  between  the  white 
and  colored  work  takes  place.  No  mere  pride  of 
numbers  or  prestige  should  have  any  influence  to 
prevent  the  Church  from  saying  to  the  colored 
brethren,  *  Go  in  peace,  and  may  the  God  of  heaven 
protect  and  guide  you/  and  with  this  benedic- 
tion   handing  over  to  them  all  the  churches,  col- 


302  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

leges,  and  property  that  have  been  accumulated  for 
their  use." 

The  sequel  will  show  that  the  writer  of  that 
book  knows  but  little  concerning  the  colored  people. 
Let  us  for  a  moment  stop  and  look  more  closely  at 
the  above  chapter  from  Brother  Wright's  facile  pen. 
There  is  no  mistake,  Brother  AVright  has  in  some 
way  had  his  plans  upset  That  he  intended  to  "  get 
even"  with  some  one  is  also  apparent.  This  gen- 
eral attacks  first  one  and  then  the  other  division  of 
the  grand  army  of  Methodism.  First  he  attacks 
the  array  at  large  for  neglecting  to  bring  more 
laymen  to  the  van.  He  then  charges  upon  the 
clerical  regiment,  declaring  it  is  in  the  way  of  his 
''  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished."  Being 
somewhat  repulsed,  he  falls  back  in  disorder,  only 
to  find  the  colored  regiment  supporting,  in  some 
sort,  the  former.  At  once  his  guns  are  leveled, 
and  he  makes  a  Fort  Pillow  charge  upon  "the 
black  brigade."  Of  this  brigade,  within  the  Meth- 
odist army,  he  declares :  "  A  conclusive  argument 
for  separation  would  be  made  if  it  were  proven 
that  the  connection  existing  [between  the  white  and 
colored  people]  within  the  Church  is  injurious  to 
both  classes."  He  attempts  to  prove  the  proposi- 
tion, by  declaring  that,  by  the  presence  of  colored 
representatives  from  Southern  and  mixed  confer- 
ences, "  but  few  are  fitted  for  their  places  and  are 
still  grossly  immoral,"  in  the  General  Conference 
"grades  down  the  intelligence  and  wisdom  of  the 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      303 

whole  body,  to  a  level  too  low  for  safety ;  that  the  ease 
with  which  the  influence  and  votes  of  these  inno- 
cent, and  generally  very  ignorant,  representatives 
were  secured  by  those  nearest  to  them,  shows  how 
great  a  danger  there  would  be  in  the  abuse  of  the 
confidence  placed  by  them  in  their  avowed  friends." 
The  gentleman  should  not  have  stayed  so  far  away 
from  those  "  innocent  and  generally  very  ignorant 
representatives."  Knowing,  as  he  must,  that  the 
man  whose  intelligence  gives  him  advantage,  even 
in  a  Methodist  General  Conference,  over  "the  inno- 
cent and  generally  very  ignorant"  is  the  greater 
sinner,  he  strikes  at  "the  avowed  friends"  of  the 
colored  man.  But  in  a  great  many  instances  some 
of  the  "avowed  friends"  of  the  colored  man  in  the 
General  Conference  of  1884  were  those  whom 
Methodism,  within  and  without  this  country,  "de- 
lights to  honor."  But  aside  from  this,  it  were  well 
for  the  good  brother  had  the  revisers  of  the  Old 
Testament  elided  the  "thou  shalt  not  bear  false 
witness." 

We  question  very  much  whether  a  single  proper 
delegate  to  that  General  Conference  was  "innocent 
and  generally  very  ignorant"  enough  to  miss  the 
truth  as  far  as  he  seems  to  have  missed  it,  and  for 
the  same  purpose.  He  also  says;  "The  colored 
men  feel  that  there  is  an  incongruity,  an  unfitness, 
a  something  that  causes  them  to  desire  to  be  freed 
from  his  presence  and  government.  They  have  but 
little   respect   for   the   whites   who   remain    among 


304  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

them."  If  that  is  so,  it  is  too  bad.  If  it  is  not  so, 
then — ?  AVhen  a  witness  testifies  to  one  thing,  and 
then  contradicts  himself,  if  he  is  adjudged  sane,  the 
court  will  throw  out  his  testimony,  declaring  him 
either  ignorant  of  the  truth  of  the  facts  he  would  re- 
late, or  else  a  perjurer.  If  the  former,  he  should  be 
reprimanded  for  meddling  with  matters  he  knew 
nothing  about;  if  the  latter,  the  law  Mould  punish 
him.  If  the  colored  men  within  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  feel  "that  there  is  an  incongruity,  a 
something  that  causes  them  to  desire  to  be  freed  from 
his  presence  [the  white  man]  and  government,"  it 
could  arise  from  no  better  source  than  that  such 
men  persist  in  remaining  within  the  Church  Avho 
abuse  them. 

"  They  have  but  little  respect  for  the  whites 
that  remain  among  them."  We  think  no  man  who 
understands  our  work  in  the  South  will  deny  that 
Drs.  J.  C.  Hartzell,  J.  Braden,  and  A.  Webster, 
"  remain  among  them."  But  Dr.  Hartzell  was 
for  five  years  or  more  the  secretary  of  the  Lou- 
isiana Conference,  where  the  colored  men  are  in 
the  majority.  He  has  repeatedly  been  elected  to 
the  General  Conference  by  his  brethren,  and 
usually  on  the  fiist  ballot.  Rev.  John  Braden, 
D.  D.,  president  of  the  Central  Tennessee  College, 
at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  has  been  there  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Tennessee 
Conference  has  been  treated  by  his  conference 
brethren   like  Dr.   Hartzell,  of  Louisiana  Confer- 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.      305 

ence.  Dr.  Alouzo  Webster,  of  the  South  Carolina 
Conference,  being,  we  believe,  the  only  white  man  in 
it,  has  been  treated  by  his  conference  brethren  just 
as  the  brethren  of  the  Tennessee  Conference  treated 
Dr.  Braden.  Without  multiplying  illustrations,  we 
ask,  what  becomes  of  Brother  Wright's  argument? 
It  follows,  that  his  darts  fall  futile  at  the  door  of  a 
Church  that  by  law  knows  "no  word  white." 

Again :  "  The  General  Conference  must  yet  decide 
whether  colored  ministers  can  be  educated  so  as  to 
continue  in  the  Church.  If  not,  the  lesser  [the 
colored  man,  of  course]  must  suffer;  or  whether, 
when  they  are  prepared,  they  will  not  do  more 
good  by  being  transferred  to  some  branch  of  the 
African  Church  "  When  did  our  bishops  receive 
authority  to  "  transfer "  ministers  into  another 
Church?  When  the  time  for  that  transferring 
conies,  would  not  the  members  of  the  General  and 
annual  conferences  be  privileged  to  vote  upon  it? 

In  speaking  of  the  three  colored  organizations, 
the  African,  African  Zion,  and  Colored  Methodist 
Episcopal  Churches,  he  says  :  "  They  are  all  strong, 
aggressive,  and  independent.  The  last  was  wisely 
set  apart  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
at  the  end  of  the  war."  The  Afncan  Methodist 
Recorder,  of  July,  1887,  contained  au  article  signed 
by  Rev.  J.  H.  Welch,  of  that  Church  on  "Union 
of  Colored  Methodists  in  this  Country."  The  facts 
there  stated  have  not  been  called  into  question, 
not  even  by  the  editor.     So  that  the  facts  stated 

26 


306  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

stand  unquestioned.  In  speaking  of  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal,  the  African  Zion  Methodist 
Ejiiscopal,  and  the  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churches  of  America,  the  very  ones  spoken  of  by 
Brother  Wright,  he  says : 

"  But  as  we  stand  to-day  separated,  all  of  us  are 
weak  and  inefficient.  In  almost  ev^ery  city,  town, 
and  village,  each  branch  of  the  Methodist  family 
has  planted  a  Church,  and  in  many  places  neither 
of  the  Churches  can  give  the  pastor  a  comfortable 
support.  Neither  of  the  branches  above  referred 
to  has  a  first-class  institution  of  learning  nor  an 
efficient  corps  of  professors  and  teachers ;  and  those 
■\ve  have  are  just  existing,  and  that  is  all.  Neither 
of  these  organizations  has  a  missionary  system 
operating  as  it  should.  Neither  branch  of  these 
Methodist  bodies  has  a  first-class  book  concern." 

Now,  the  above  comes  from  an  African  Methodist 
of  the  African  Methodists — a  man  conversant  with 
the  inner  and  outer  workings  of  the  machinery  of 
the  three  "strong,  progressive,  and  independent" 
colored  Churches.  Who  is  right.  Brother  Wright? 
As  to  the  wisdom  displayed  by  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  setting  apart  its  colored 
daughter,  we  leave  Dr.  A.  G.  Haygood  to  say,  as 
he  has  at  page  236  in  "  Our  Brother  in  Black." 
However,  the  aforesaid  brother  missed  it  a  few 
years,  when  he  says  "set  apart  at  the  end  of  the 
war,"  for  it  was  not  "set  apart"  until  1870.  But 
then,  you   know,  a   few    years — say   seven — do  n't 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     307 

amount  to  much  when  we  have  an  object  in  view. 
At  last  he  feels  as  if  a  solution  of  his  troublesome 
problem  has  been  reached.  When  speaking  further 
of  the  three  "  strong,  aggressive,  and  independent 
Churches,"  he  says:  "If  the  members  of  these 
Churches  could  b(!  united  with  the  colored  members 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  they  would 
make  a  million  of  people.  What  an  opportunity 
for  usefulness  to  their  race  would  be  thus  placed 
before  them!"  It's  wonderful,  is  it  not?  At  this 
point  the  good  brother  reaches  his  climax.  By  all 
means,  let  it  be  done !  Let  us  begin  now !  Come, 
let  us  go  up  to  the  next  General  Conference  of  our 
Church,  and  pass  a  law  that  all  the  colored  Meth- 
odists in  America  and  Canada  must  come  into  our 
Church — bishops,  elders,  exhorters,  and  laymen — 
and  thus  accept  the  magnanimous  "opportunity  for 
usefulness  to  our  race."  What  would  the  good 
brother  then  think  of  General  Conference  represen- 
tation? Would  he  have  it  reduced?  But  fearing 
that  some  others  may  not  see  the  plan  as  he  sees  it, 
he  says :  "  If  they  [the  colored  members]  are  to 
remain  in  the  Church,  would  it  not  be  to  the 
interest  of  all  parties  to  dissolve  the  annual  con- 
ferences in  which  colored  members  are  in  the 
majority,  into  mission  conferences?  If  not,  then 
reduce  the  number  of  colored  delegates."  Now, 
any  one  can  judge  from  what  we  have  cited  from 
the  book,  just  about  how  much  credence  should  be 
had  in  anything  the  book,  "  Preachers  and  People 


308  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church/'  has  presented. 
And  yet  it  does  show  that  the  question  of  a  separa- 
tion from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  being 
discussed ;  for  even  the.  author  of  that  book  has  a 
backing  within  and  without  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  for  he  is  one  of  the  leading  officials  in  the 
Arch  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Phila- 
delphia. 

Caste  prejudice  has  not  been,  but  will  yet  be, 
driven  to  the  owls  and  bats,*  before  the  onrolliug 
tidal  wave  of  intelligence  and  sober  common  sense 
that  is  even  now  breaking  upon  the  shores  of  this 
country.  And  yet  it  does  seem  as  if  there  is  but 
one  of  two  ways  in  which  it  can  be  done,  or  by  a 
combination  (suiting  the  case)  of  the  two, — the 
hump  of  caste  prejudice  now  resting  so  adroitly 
upon  the  back  of  our  American  Protestant  ecclesi- 
asticism  must  be  amputated  by  the  impartial  but 
keen  blade  of  the  great  Physician  ;  or  Protestantism 
must  bow  so  low  in  the  dust  and  ashes  of  liuniil- 
iation,  that  this  unsightly  protuberance  shall  be 
visible  no  more  forever.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
can  we  hope  to  see  this  camel  go  unscathed  through 
the  eye  of  the  gospel  needle. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     309 
CHAPTER  XV. 

UNION  OF  COLORED  METHODISTS. 

WHAT  would  be  the  result  of  such  a  union  ? 
If  an  organic  union  of  all  the  colored 
Methodists  in  America  could  be  effected,  it  would 
make  no  mean  Church.  Just  think  of  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal,  the  African  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Zion,  the  Colgred  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America,  and  the  colored  members  now  within  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  say  to  the  number  of 
three  hundred  thousand,  uniting  and  forming  one 
Church,  composed  of  22,076  ministers  and  a  member- 
ship of  1,012,300,  bringing  with  them  an  army  of 
Sunday-school  children  not  far  from  1,500,000  !  If 
the  divine  promise  were  fulfilled  in  each  of  these,  that 
"one  shall  chase  a  thousand  and  two  shall  put  ten 
thousand  to  flight,"  why,  such  an  army  of  true  be- 
lievers could,  as  the  quaint  preacher  said,  "shake 
hell  to  its  center"  while  moving  the  world  toward 
the  cross  of  Christ! 

It  was  in  1883  when  Dr.  Tanner,  through  the 
columns  of  the  paper  he  was  then  editing,  the 
Christian  Recorder,  of  the  African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  suggested  the  idea  of  an  organic 
union  of  all  the  exclusively  colored  organizations. 
A  year  or  so  ago  the  colored  Methodists  of  Canada, 


310  THE  COLORED  MAN.  * 

under  Bishop  Nazery,  united  with  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  It  did  not  amount 
to  much  then  nor  since.  Several  times  overtures 
have  been  made  to  the  two  other  colored  Churches 
by  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but  it 
has  usually  ended  in  talk.  The  fact  may  as  well  be 
stated  first  as  last,  that  a  time  will  never  come  in  the 
history  of  this  country  when  all  the  colored  Meth- 
odists will  belong  to  07ie  great  Negro  Church.  In 
the  first  place,  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal, 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion,  the  Colored 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America,  and  the 
colored  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
each  and  every  one  of  these  is  looking  forward  to, 
and  praying  for,  a  time  when  all  the  others  will 
come  back  to  mother  or  come  over  and  live  with 
sister.  Again,  because  the  separate  and  distinct  col- 
ored Church  organizations  have  been  warring  with 
each  other  from  the  beginning  of  their  organiza- 
tion, and  these  old  feuds  and  petty  jealousies  keep 
coming  up  every  time  organic  union  is  mentioned. 
It  can  not  occur,  because  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  and  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Churches  continued  separate  before  the  war,  and 
when  it  ended  expected  to,  and  did,  receive  a  won- 
derful influx  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  and 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  Those  two  or- 
ganizations saw  a  few  apples  still  clinging  to  the  par- 
ent tree  in  the  South.  They  began  throwing  sticks 
and  mud,  then  they  tried  "taffV,"  and  then  stones. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     311 

In  1869  each  of  the  above-named  two  Churches  be- 
gan to  get  ready  for  the  reception  of  the  one  hundred 
thousand  members  then  in  the  Church  South.  As 
the  General  Conference  of  the  Church  South  in  1870 
met,  each  of  those  denominations,  basing  its  faith 
on  the  repeated  promises  of  many  of  the  prominent 
preachers  of  the  Church  South,  began  to  prepare 
to  receive  them.  They  were  chagrined,  however, 
when,  instead  of  "coming  over,"  they  marched  out 
into  the  broad  field  of  independency,  and  set  up 
shop  for  themselves  by  the  assistance  of  the  Church 
South.  The  two  older  Churches  then  began  to 
bushwhack  all  they  possibly  could,  seizing  "every 
straggling  soul  as  their  own  lawful  prey."  The 
two  larger  colored  organizations  will  not  unite, 
because  each  is  still  waiting  and  expecting  her 
younger  sister  to  visit  and  remain  with  her.  The 
three  will  not  unite,  because  each  is  expecting  a  time 
to  come  when  the  three  hundred  thousand  colored 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  will 
leave  in  a  body  and  join  it. 

Of  course,  the  colored  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  are  praised,  abused,  loved,  laughed 
at,  or  coquetted,  as  the  case  seems  to  require  at  the 
time.  It  is  really  amusing  at  times  to  hear  the 
stories  told — good,  bad,  and  indifferent — by  these 
three  organizations,  to  induce  our  members  to  come. 
And  yet,  somehow  or  other,  the  one  does  not  seem 
to  know  why  the  other  should  anticipate  our  com- 
ing.    We  can  not  see  it.     Before  we  had  separate 


312  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

conferences  it  did  look  as  if  all  our  members  would 
be  stolen  from  us.  But  every  day  now  the  colored 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  pitch 
their  tent  a  day's  march  farther  from  auy  kind  of 
African  Methodism,  on  the  one  hand,  and  from 
having  the  oceans  circumscribe  them  by  joining 
"The  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of,  or  in, 
America."  If  there  ever  comes  a  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  colored  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  when  it  will  be  no  longer  useful, 
pleasant,  or  wise  to  remain,  they  will  undoubtedly 
form  another  colored  organization,  and  man  it  them- 
selves. They  have  the  material.  There  is  no  col- 
ored Church  in  this  country  that  is  educating  so 
many  young  people  a  year  as  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  Our  brethren  of  the  three  colored 
organizations  in  this  country  will  tell  you  that  the 
time  has  now  passed  when  their  bishops,  General 
Conference  officers,  etc.,  can  visit  the  Commence- 
ment exercises  of  our  schools  and  colleges,  and  take 
away  in  their  pockets,  by  flattery  or  promises,  our 
young  people  as  they  were  wont  to  do.  This  is 
the  explanation  of  the  mushroom  "  universities 
and  colleges"  under  the  auspices  of  certain  "pow- 
ers" in  this  country.  Our  young  men  and  women 
begin  now  to  see,  as  do  many  others,  that  a  time 
not  far  distant  must  come  when  the  best  outlook  for 
cultured  colored  men  and  women  will  not  be,  as 
some  would  have  us  believe,  in  Africa,  nor  among 
the   Africans.     Why  should   it   not   be  a   separate 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     313 

organization  of  our  own,  if  any  change  must  come  ? 
Indeed,  the  thought  presents  the  most  fiatterhig  pros- 
pect,— the  twenty  or  thirty  universities,  colleges, 
normal  schools,  and  academies  given  into  the  hands 
of  our  own  competent  presidents,  professors,  and 
teachers ;  the  real  estate,  consisting  of  college  build- 
ings, churches,  and  parsonages,  with  mortgage  on 
only  about  twenty-five  cents  on  the  dollar;  five 
hundred  thousand  children  in  our  schools,  and  over 
three  hundred  thousand  members,  with  the  great 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  behind  them !  Now 
and  then  some  good  brother,  like  the  author  of 
"  Preachers  and  People  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,"  advances  the  Utopian  idea  of  handing  us 
over  to  some  one  of  the  existing  colored  organiza- 
tions, but  the  good  men  and  women  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  are  hoping  for  no  such 
thing.  We  believe  the  good  men  and  women  pre- 
dominate. 

In  the  above-referred-to  book  the  statement  is 
made  that  "the  more  intelligent  colored  people  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  are  seriously  think- 
ing of  separating  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church."  If  the  poll  were  taken  of  every  intelli- 
gent colored  man  within  the  Church,  such  an  idea 
Svt)uld  be  laughed  at,  for  no  such  feeling  prevails. 
There  is  no  such  spirit  abroad  within  the  Church 
on  the  part  of  the  colored  members.  If  it  exists  at 
all,  it  must  be  sought  elsewhere.  There  is  no  occasion 
for  it;  and  though  it  may  be  that  now  and  then 

27 


314  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

some  word  is  let  fall  by  some  braggadocio,  that  if 
so  and  so  is  not  done,  thus  and  so  will  happen, 
yet  no  such  stuif  has  ever  fallen  from  the  lips  of 
the  leaders  of  our  colored  membership,  properly 
so  called.  Should  anything  of  the  kind  ever  be 
broached,  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  secrecy, 
and  less  for  braggadocio ;  no  absolute  necessity  for 
rejoicing  on  the  part  of  any  colored  organizations, 
if  there  might  follow  overtures  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  for  organic  union  that  are  not  now 
made.  The  thought  naturally  uppermost  at  this  junc- 
ture in  the  minds  of  some  may  be.  Would  it  not  be 
Christian-like  and  brotherly  for  the  colored  mem- 
bers to  separate,  so  that  organic  union  may  take 
place  between  the  "two  great  branches  of  Meth- 
odism in  this  country  ?"  Is  that  what  keeps  them 
apart  f  We  would,  to  the  question  as  to  separation, 
answer.  No.  If  we  understand  the  heart  of  the 
Church — ^and  we  think  we  do,  having  been  born  nat- 
urally and  supernaturally  in  her  lap — she  does  not  ask 
as  much.  In  1844  the  Church,  by  dropping  her  in- 
terests in  and  work  for  the  colored  man,  could  very 
easily  and  knowingly  have  preserved  her  union, 
power,  and  influence,  kept  back  the  rebellion  for  a 
time,  received  the  encomiums  instead  of  the  vituper- 
ation and  obloquy  of  every  slaveholding  nation  in 
the  world,  and  brought  to  her  support  the  strong 
slave  oligarchy  of  the  South.  She  did  not  do  it.  She 
will  never  compromise  with  sin  enough  to  accept 
even  an  organic  union  conceived  in  caste  and  born 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     315 

of  a  hate  that  excludes  one  the  Lord  said  should  be 
loved  as  herself.  We  believe,  laying  aside  all  per- 
sonal predilections,  prejudice,  and  aspirations  that, 
so  far  as  the  Church  is  concerned,  the  colored  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  will  remain 
therein  until  they  are  pleased  to  go  out,  if  that  is 
until  the  sound  of  the  first  trumpet. 

Would  there  be  anything  gained  by  a  separation  f 
To  our  mind  there  is  nothing  to  gain,  and  much  to 
lose,  by  the  colored  members  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  separating  from  it.  In  the  first 
place,  it  would  have  the  same  tendency  that  the  now 
existing  colored  organizations  have,  casting  reflec- 
tions upon  the  wisdom  of  those  good  men  and 
women  who  all  along  have  contended  for  general 
equality;  it  would  weaken  the  race  politically  and 
socially ;  widen,  instead  of  narrowing,  the  chasm  be- 
tween the  white  and  colored  clergy  in  this  country. 
"  Like  priests,  like  people,"  would  naturally  widen 
the  breach  between  the  laity.  This  would  naturally 
cause  variance  between  neighbors  because  of  color. 
This  would  naturally  lead  to  separate  schools  where 
they  are  now  mixed,  and  keep  forever  separate  those 
that  are  now  separate.  In  a  word,  it  would  mag- 
nify caste,  race  prejudice,  and  eventually  lead  to  a 
war  of  races.  The  segregation  of  one  million  or 
more  colored  men  in  this  country  into  one  single 
organization  would  endanger  the  safety  of  our  Re- 
public in  more  ways  than  one.  In  the  second  place, 
a  separation    now  from  the    Methodist    Episcopal 


316 


THE  COLORED  MAN. 


Church  for  anything  less  than  a  crime  against  the 
race  would  not  only  be  suicidal,  but  foolhardy,  pay- 
ing kindness  with  contumely,  and  subjecting  not 
only  the  members  concerned,  but  the  race  to  the 
scorn  and  laughter  of  the  world.  We  do  not  ex- 
pect to  have  everything  go  our  way,  to  count  for 
more  than  we  number,  nor  to  see  every  law  we  pro- 
pose adopted,  nor  to  be  fondly  dandled  in  the  lap 
of  an  affectionate  and  opulent  mother.  We  ex- 
pect only  what  we  have  always  received  from  the 
Church — the  privilege  of  full  membership  therein. 

The  work  which  the  Church  has  done  in  the 
South,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  tables : 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  UP  TO  JANUARY  i,  1887. 


I^AME. 


Centenary  Bib'l  Institute 
Central  Tenn.  College 
Claflin   University  .   . 
Clark  University  .   .   . 
Cookman  Institute  .   . 
Bennett  Seminary  .   . 
Gammon  Theol.  School 
Haven  Normal  Institute. 
Morristown    Seminary 
New  Orleans  University 
Philander  Smith  .   .   . 
Rust   University  .   .   . 
Rust  Normal  Institute 
Wiley    University  .   . 
West  Texas  Conf.  Sem. 

Total 

In  Northern  Colleges  . 

Grand  Total  .   .   . 


Pupils 
aided 


46 
67 
45 
12 

4 

6 
29 

3 
22 
44 

5 
11 

2 
18 

5 


319 
6 

325 


Amount. 


$1,850 

2,446 

2,015 

732 

158 

200 

1,663 

75 

755 

2,327 

228 

400 

75 

855 

140 


Location. 


OOj  Baltimore,  Md. 
OOjNashville,  Tenn. 
OOiOrangeburg,  S.  C. 
00  Atlanta,  Ga. 
00|Jacksonville,  Fla. 
OO.Greensboro,  N.  C. 
00|  Atlanta,  Ga. 
00  Waynesboro,  Ga. 
00  Morristown,  Tenn. 
00  New  Orleans,  La. 


$13,919  00 
2,000  00 


$15,919  00 


Little  Rock,  Ark. 
Holly  Spr'gs,  Miss. 
Huntsville,  Ala. 
Marshall,  Texas. 
Houston,  Texas. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     317 


WORK  OF  CHURCH  EXTENSION  SOCIETY. 

Expended  to  colored  membership  by  donation  .  $237,000  00 
Expended  to  colored  membership  by  loan  ....  150,000  00 

Total  given  by  Church $387,000  00 

Total  given  by  colored  members  by  collection  .   .  35,000  00 

Amount   received   by   colored   members   more 

than    they    raised $352,000  00 

Churches  this  saved,  built,  or  helped  to  build  for  them,  2,000. 

WORK  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY  SINCE 
THE  WAR. 


Conference.  Amount. 

Central  Alabama  .  $16,600  00 

Delaware 23,438  89 

Florida 20,228  65 

Georgia 38,571  58 

Lexington  ....  27,053  50 
Louisiana  ....  126,201  50 
Mississippi  ....  155,943  63 

Missouri 42,486  06 

North  Carolina  .  .  25,622  45 
St.  Louis 41,279  00 


Conference. 
Savannah     .   . 
South  Carolina 
Tennessee  .    .    . 

Texas  

Washington  .    . 
Little  Rock    .   . 
Colored     work 
Kansas     .   . 


Amount. 
$20,250  00 
.  49,217  25 
.  34,236  78 
.  32,103  09 
.  55,833  68 
.  12,700  00 


7,500  00 


Total 


.  $729,266  06 


In  the  above  figures  the  West  Texas  Confer- 
ence is  included  in  Texas  Conference,  East  Tennessee 
in  the  Tennessee  Conference,  etc.  While  no  claim  is 
set  up  that  the  above  figures  are  exactly  true,  they 
are  at  least  an  approximation.  Where  the  confer- 
ence was  mixed,  one-eighth  of  the  missionary  appro- 
priation only  has  been  credited  to  the  colored  work, 
though  it  is  easy  to  see  how  mistakes  could  creep 
in  an  account  of  this.  But  the  work  that  has  been 
done,  and  the  interest  which  the  Church  has  had  in 
it  are  apparent.  So  long  as  souls  are  to  be  saved, 
the  Church  can  not  relax  its  efforts  toward  these 
people,  whether  white  or  colored. 


318  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOIv  UNION. 

The  great  work  done  by  this  benevolent  society 
of  the  Church  among  the  colored  people  of  the 
South  deserves  emphatic  mention  in  connection 
with  these  tables  of  results  which  we  have  been 
giving.  It  will  be  impossible  to  tabulate  perfectly 
statistical  results  among  the  colored  people,  as  the 
work  done  has  been  for  the  populations  of  the 
South,  regardless  of  color,  and  has  so  interpen- 
etrated that  it  would  be  impossible  to  say  that  thi? 
was  done  for  one  race,  and  this  for  another.  We 
may  m.ention,  however,  the  publication  of  the 
Good  Tidings  and  its  gratuitous  distribution  among 
the  Sunday-schools  of  the  colored  people  in  the 
South.  During  the  year  1888  the  Sunday-school 
Union,  in  connection  with  the  Tract  Society,  sent  the 
Good  Tidings  to  2,536  Sunday-schools  in  807  differ- 
ent charges  in  the  Southern  States.  The  weekly  aver- 
age of  Good  Tidings  distributed  was  37,134  ;  total 
number  of  copies  distributed  during  the  year. 
1,994,000;  total  number  of  pages,  7,976,000.  No 
one  can  possibly  estimate  the  great  good  which  has 
been  accomplished  by  the  circulation  of  this  excel- 
lent publication.  Besides  this,  the  Union  has  sent 
grants  of  Sunday-school  libraries,  music-books, 
catechisms,  and  Sunday-school  periodicals  of  every 
possible  description  to  all  parts  of  the  South,  call- 
ing into  existence  new  schools,  and  inspiring  dis- 
couraged schools  with  new  life.     Possibly  the  most 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CBURCII.     319 

helpful  work  accomplished  by  this  society  has  been 
its  personal  visitation  in  the  person  of  its  efficient 
agents  in  all  parts  of  the  South.  Almost  every  sec- 
tion of  the  country  has  been  touched.  Extensive 
campaigns  of  work  have  been  conducted.  Weary 
and  disheartened  pastors  have  been  encouraged; 
new  schools  have  been  organized,  which  have 
already  grown  into  commanding  churches ;  new  and 
better  methods  of  work  have  been  taught  a  people 
who  knew  so  little  how  to  work ;  and  because  of  this 
"  hand-to-hand  "  effort  immense  good  has  been  ac- 
complished, and  the  Sunday-school  Union  stands 
well  to  the  front  among  the  benevolent  societies  of 
the  Church,  contributing  to  the  growth  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  among  the  colored  people  of 
the  South. 

In  addition  to  this  official  work  for  the  Sunday- 
schools  of  the  South,  there  were  in  several  places 
organized  efforts  to  collect  and  distribute  second- 
hand books  in  needy  localities.  From  Cincinnati 
many  boxes  of  these  were  forwarded,  that  useful 
reading  matter  and  school-books  might  be  supplied 
by  the  proper  agents  to  those  who  had  not  the 
means  to  purchase  for  themselves.  These  went 
largely  into  the  cabins  and  cottages  of  the  freedmen  ; 
and  the  first  lessons  in  reading  were  learned  by 
many  who  had  no  other  teachers  than  those  in  the 
Sunday-schools.  A  single  book  served  ofttimes  for 
an  entire  family.  Father,  mother,  and  children 
were  alike  ignorant, and  alike  needed  instruction. 


320  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

THE    FREEDMEN'S    AID    AND    SOUTHERN    EDUCA- 
TION SOCIETY. 

Institutions  among  Colored  People. 

I.  Collegiate.  Teachers     Students 

Centenary  Biblical  Institute,  Baltimore,  Md.  .  12  223 

Central  Tennessee  College,  Nashville,  Tenn.  .  22  545 

Claflin  University,  Orangeburg,  S.  C 23  946 

Clark  University,   Atlanta,  Ga 23  340 

New  Orleans  University,  New  Orleans,  La.  .  15  266 

Philander  Smith   College,  Little  Rock,  Ark.  .  12  185 

Rust  University,  Holly  Springs,  Miss 10  355 

Wiley   University,  Marshall,  Texas 17  230 

2.  Theological. 

Gammon  Theological  Seminary,  Atlanta,  Ga.  .    4  71    . 

3.  Biblical  Departments. 

Baker  Institute,  Claflin  University 6  10 

Centenary  Biblical  Institute  (correspondence  6)  3  31 

Central  Tennessee  College  (correspondence  62)  2  102 

Gilbert  Haven  School  of  Theology,  New  Orleans  3  15 

4.  Medical  and  Dental. 

Meharry  Medical  College,  Nashville,  Tenn.  .   .  11  55 

Medical  Department  New  Orleans  University 

(just  organized) 5 

Meharry  Dental  College,  Nashville,  Tenn.  .   .    8  11 

5.  Legal. 

School,  Central  Tennessee  College 6  6 

6.  Industrial. 

Claflin  College  of  Agiiculture  and  Mechanics 

Inst.,  Orangeburg,  S.  C 20  507 

John  F.  Slater  Schools  of  Industry,  Nashville, 

Tenn 8  194 

Schools  of  Industry,  New  Orleans  University  .    2  120 

Schools  of  Industry,  Rust  University,  Holly 

Springs,  Miss 4  35 

Schools  of  Industry,  Centenary  Biblical  Insti- 
tute,   Baltimore,    Md 4  53 

Manual    Training-school,    Philander    Smith 

College,  Little  Rock,  Ark 4  92 

Industrial  School,  Bennett  Seminary 3  11 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     321 

Teachers.    Students. 

Schools  of  Industry,  Wilev  University,  Mar- 
shall, Texas  ..•••' 4  116 

Schools  of  Industry,  in  Cookman  Institute, 

Jacksonville,  f la 2  18 

Schools  of  Industry,  Gilbert  Seminary,  Bald- 
win,   La 7  75 

Classes  in  Huntsville  Normal  Institute,  Hunts- 

ville,  Ala 2  27 

Schools  in  Clark  University,  Atlanta,  Ga.- .   .  10  204 

7.  Academic. 

Bennett  Seminary,  Greensboro,  N.  C 6           125 

Baltimore  City  Academy,  Baltimore,  Md.*  .   . 

Central  Alabama  Academy,  Huntsville,  Ala.  .  4           140 

Cookman  Institute,  Jacksonville,  Fla 6           321 

Delaware     Conference     Academy,    Princess 

Anne,  Md.* 

Gilbert  Seminary,  Winsted,  La 17           299 

Haven  Normal  School,  Waynesboro,  Ga.  ...  3           153 

LaGrange  Seminary,  LaGrange,  Ga 3           209 

Meridian  Academy,  Meridian,  Miss 3           154 

Morristown  Seminary,  Morristown,  Tenn.  .    .  9           260 
Samuel  Houston  College,  Austin,  Texas  (not 

opened  last  year) 

West  Tennessee  Seminary,  Mason,  Tenn.  .   .  2           149 

^  Teachers  and  Students  counted  in  Centenary  Biblical  Institute. 

Institutions  among  White  Peopi,e. 

I.  Collegiaie. 

Chattanooga  University,  Chattanooga,  Tenn.  .    9  161 

Grant  Memorial  University,  Athens,  Tenn.  .   .  18  291 

Little  Rock  University,  Little   Rock,  Ark.  .   .  14  266 

Texas  Wesleyan  College 10  240 

a.  Theological. 

School,  Chattanooga  University 2  13 

School,  Grant  Memorial  University 3  27 

3.  Legal.  -^  - 

Class,  Grant  Memorial  University 1  41 

Class,  Little  Rock  University 6  20 

4.   Academic. 

Baldwin  Seminary,  Baldwin,  La 2  56 

Bloomington  College,  Bloomington,  Tenn.  .   .    4  138 


322 


THE  COLORED  MAN. 


Teachers.  Studenta. 

Ellijay  Seminary,  Ellijay,  Ga 3  151 

Graham  Academy,  Smyrna,  N.  C 3  80 

Holston  Academy,  New  Market,  Tenn 2  90 

Kingsley  Seminary,  Bloomingdale,  Tenn.  ...  4  131 

Leicest  r  Seminary,  Leicester,  N.  C 4  136 

Mai lalieu  Academy,  Kinsey,  Ala 2  65 

McLemoresville    Institute,    McLemoresville, 

Tenn 7  114 

Mt.  Zion  Seminary,  Mt.  Zion,  Ga 4  140 

Powell's  Valley,  Well  Spring,  Tenn 4  175 

Parrottsville  Academy,  Parrottsville,  Tenn.  .    .  3  125 
Eoanoke  Academy,  Roanoke,  Va.  (not  opened 

past   year) 

Trapp  Hill  Academy,  Trapp  Hill,  N.  C.  .    .    .  2  125 

Warren  College,  Chucky  City,  Tenn 4  155 

Woodland  Academy,  Cumberland,  Miss.  ...  2  72 

RECAPITITLATION. 


Among  Colored 
People. 

Among  White 
People. 

ToUl. 

Grade  of  Schools. 

2J 

B 

c 

IS 

J1 

S 
g 

F 

c 

a 

!2! 
c 
3 

a 

H 

a 

c 

a. 

a 
1 

c 
3 
a* 

re 

c 

a 

a 

Collegiate 

Theological  Seiuinary... 
Biblical  Departments  .. 
Medical   Departments... 

I>ental  Department 

Legal  Department 

Industrial  Departments 

8 
1 
4 
2 
1 
1 
12 
12 

21 

134 
4 
14 
11 

8 
6 
70 
60 

223 

3,090 

71 

158 

55 

11 

6 

1,455 

1,810 

4 

51 

958 

12 
1 
G 
2 
1 
3 
12 
28 

146 
4 
19 
11 
8 
13 
70 
114 

4,048 
71 

2 

5 

40 

198 
55 

u 

ie" 

7 
54 

61 

67 
1,4,'>5 

1,759 

3,.569 

Totals.* 

4,971 

20 

105 

2,717  1 

41 

328 

7,688 

*  In  these  totals  students  and  teachers  are  counted  but  once ;  and  depart- 
ments are  tiot  counted  as  separate  institutions. 

In  twenty-two  years  the  Freedraen's  Aid  and  South 
ern  Education  Society  has  expended  in  the  work  of 
Christian  education  in  the  South  about  $2,500,000. 

The  present  value  of  the  property  owned  by  the 
Society    in    the    South    is    over   $1,500,000.     This 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     323 

includes  lands — some  of  which  have  increased  in 
value — school  buildings,  furniture,  and  libraries. 
More  than  one  hundred  thousand  colored  students 
have  been  in  the  various  schools,  and  a  reasonable 
estimate  is,  that  the  preachers  and  teachers  in  public 
and  private  schools,  from  among  this  multitude, 
have  had  under  their  influence  ftilly  one  million  of 
the  youth  and  adults  of  the  South.  No  words  can 
adequately  express  the  far-reaching  and  glorious  re- 
sults already  achieved,  and  yet  to  flow,  from  this  ever- 
widening  current  of  intellectual  and  moral  power. 

THE  DUTY  OF  THE  HOUR. 

With  the  understanding  that  we  are  not  cumber- 
some to  the  Church,  what  is  the  duty  of  the  colored 
members  therein?  It  is  our  indispensable  duty  to 
remain  loyal,  wise,  and  prudent.  By  saying  that 
the  colored  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  ought  to  remain  loyal,  does  not  necessarily 
carry  with  it  a  thought  that  there  is  a  spirit  of  dis- 
loyalty brewing.  What  is  intended  is  simply  that 
each  and  every  member  thereof  should  know  his 
and  her  obligations  to  the  Church,  her  rules  and  reg- 
ulations, and  sacredly  keep  them,  "not  for  wrath, 
but  for  conscience'  sake."  If  the  entire  mem- 
bership would  be  loyal  and  stay  loyal,  as  well  as 
appear  loyal  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  and  of  the 
Church,  it  must  see  to  it  that  there  is  no  just  ground 
for  such  complaints  against  the  race  as  have  herein- 
before  been  mentioned  as  found  in   Mr.  Wright's 


324  TEE  COLORED  MAN. 

book.  The  charges  he  brought  forward  were,  that 
the  colored  delegates  to  the  General  Conference  of 
1884  were  "generally  very  ignorant  representa- 
tives." He  said  also:  "It  is  said,  by  those  who 
know  and  judge  impartially,  that  to-day  there  are 
but  few  men  in  any  of  the  Southern  colored  and 
mixed  conferences  who  are  fitted  for  their  places, 
and  that  the  colored  members  are  still  grossly  im- 
moral." These  are  aicfuUy  serious  charges,  whether 
true  or  not.  A  great  many  people  in  these  United 
States  will  probably  form  (or  may  have  already)  an 
opinion  from  that  book  of  not  only  the  race  with 
which  they  anon  come  in  contact  in  the  busy  scenes 
of  every-day  life,  but  of  the  colored  membership 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  members  of  the 
same  Christian  family,  who  are  privileged  to  eat  at 
the  same  Lord's  table.  We  know  there  are  thou- 
sands of  chances  for  even  us  to  say,  "It  is  not  all  on 
this  side  of  the  house ;"  but  it  makes  but  little,  if 
anything,  in  our  favor  if  others  are  no  better  than  we. 
That  the  good  brother  overleaped  the  bounds  of 
reason,  not  to  say  common  sense,  in  his  desperation 
to  make  out  a  case,  is  a  foregone  conclusion.  What 
he  says  is,  that  "those  who  know  and  judge  impar- 
tially," say  "that  the  colored  members  are  $:till 
grossly  immoral,"  What  a  fearful  charge  is  this 
against  the  bishops  of  our  Church,  that  they  have 
brought  into  the  Church,  directly  or  indirectly, 
under  their  very  noses,  three  hundred  thousand 
"grossly  immoral"  members!     Thousands  of  these 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     325 

have  received  authority  to  preach  the  gospel  and 
administer  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
none  of  whom  have  been  less  than  two  years  under 
the  almost  personal  training  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence. Isn't  it  horrible?  Who  believes  it?  But 
DO  one  need  be  surprised  at  this  tirade  against  the 
poor  "  black  man,"  for  in  his  next  paragraph  above, 
at  page  265,  brother  Wright,  in  speaking  of  the 
white  ministers  and  agents  sent  South  to  teach  the 
colored  people,  says :  "  The  general  impudence  and 
lack  of  knowledge  of  the  agents  and  ministers  sent 
to  the  South  have  blocked  up  the  way  of  the  Church. 
The  immoral  character  and  the  dishonest  practices 
of  some  inflicted  disgrace  on  the  Church  and  cast  a 
doubt  on  all."  All  the  white  delegates  were  not  as 
"  learned  "  as  the  author  of  "  Preachers  and  People 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  who  were 
elected  to  attend  the  General  Conference  in  1884. 
It  was  not  to  have  been  expected  that  all  the  col- 
ored delegates  would  measure  up  to  him.  How- 
ever far  he  may  have  missed  the  truth  in  this  case, 
intentionally  or  otherwise,  one  of  the  best  ways  for 
the  colored  members  in  the  Church  to  show  that 
they  are  loyal  and  worthy  is  to  elect  no  one  as  a 
delegate  to  the  General  Conference  who  is  not  quali- 
fied. By  qualified  we  mean  possessing  natural  and 
acquired  ability,  and  the  grace  of  God  richly  shed 
abroad  in  the  heart.  With  the  former  he  will  be 
qualified  to  discharge  the  functions  of  his  office  with 
credit  to  himself,  his  race,  and  the  Church.     By  the 


326  THE  COLORED  MAN. 

latter  he  will  be  "an  epistle  known  and  read  of  all 
men,"  who  will  by  it  perceive  that  he  is  "  neither 
common  nor  unclean/'  but  "a  workman  that  need- 
eth  not  to  be  ashamed."  As  presiding  elders,  pas- 
tors, officers,  and  members  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  let  us  let  our  light  shine  by  raising 
our  standard  higher.  Let  no  one  be  recommended 
for  license  to  preach  by  us  in  any  quarterly  meet- 
ing, however  far  back  in  the  woods  it  may  be,  who 
has  not  "  gifts  and  grace."  As  to  our  mode  of  wor- 
ship, let  it  be  after  the  manner  of  our  excellent 
Discipline,  and  not  after  the  style  of  Revolutionary 
days.  Let  our  Sabbath-schools  be  brought  up  to  a 
higher  plane.  Let  the  songs  of  thanksgiving  and 
praise,  accompanied  by  the  Word  of  God  and 
prayer,  be  of  daily  occurrence  where  it  has  been 
periodical.  Let  us  see  to  it  that,  as  a  Church,  the 
rules  and  regulations  thereof  are  kept  to  the  very 
letter.  Let  us,  as  a  race,  continue  to  improve 
morally,  financially,  intellectually,  and  spiritually, 
"having  an  eye  single  to  the  glory  of  God." 
"  Finally,  my  brethren,  be  strong  in  the  Lord  and 
in  the  power  of  his  might.  Put  on  the  whole 
armor  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  against 
the  wiles  of  the  devil.  Stand  therefore,  having 
your  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and  having  on  the 
breast-plate  of  righteousness,  and  your  feet  shod 
with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace ;  above 
all,  taking  the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall 
be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked. 


THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.     327 

And  take  the  helmet  of  salvation,  and  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God ;  praying 
always,  with  all  prayers  and  supplications  in  the 
Spirit,  and  watching  thereunto  with  all  persever- 
ance," until  the  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord, 
when  you  shall  appear  before  the  great  white  throne, 
and  hear  the  Captain  of  your  salvation,  to  the  ques- 
tion, "Who  are  these?"  answer,  "These  are  they 
which  came  up  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have 
washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb." 


J£SWTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRAHY  FACIUTY 


A    000  131  221     1 


